That's How it Goes
by piacere
Summary: Lizzie is married, has two kids, and is getting a divorce, Gordo is directing, but still lives in Hill Ridge, and has custody of a teenage girl. When Lizzie decides to move back to Hill Ridge to start a new life, what will happen? rr
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE. This is a story I have been working on for a quite a while. It's going to start off really crazily, so I hope you like it.

Summary: Lizzie, Gordo, and Miranda went their separate ways after college. Now, seventeen years after college, (which would make them in their late thirties) Lizzie married, has two kids, and is getting a divorce, Gordo is directing, but still lives in Hill Ridge, and has custody of a teenage girl. When Lizzie decides to move back to Hill Ridge to start a new life, what will happen?

That's How It Goes

Prologue

Lizzie's Life up To this Point

All throughout college, Miranda, who went to UCLA, Gordo, who attended Columbia University, and Lizzie, who attended University of Texas, kept up with each other, despite their distance.

In March of their senior year, Lizzie announced that she was getting married to her boyfriend of over three years, George West. They were going to get married that summer and reside in Houston, Texas, where George's family kept a bar.

Of course, Lizzie invited her friends to the wedding in Hill Ridge, and both Gordo and Miranda showed up. Miranda was Lizzie's maid of honor.

Many people, including Lizzie's mother, Jo, wondered if she was getting married too soon. Lizzie hadn't even chosen a career, and already she was getting married. Lizzie, however, convinced all the people that were skeptical that she was old enough to make her own decisions and no one ever said a word after that.

The marriage was small, held outside in a public garden, with one hundred guests attending. It was beautiful and both Miranda and Gordo had a beautiful speech to give to Lizzie, saying that they were friends for life, this was a huge milestone, and how proud they were of their best friend.

That wedding was the last Lizzie ever saw Miranda and Gordo. It was the last time she had ever spoken to Gordo.

And now, seventeen years later, Lizzie McGuire-West, was sitting on her bed that she used to share with her husband looking at their wedding album. Everybody looked so happy in that album. If only they knew that seventeen years later, it would end in a brutal divorce, leaving Lizzie with their two sons, and George with practically everything else.

If only Lizzie had listened to her mom and other people who said she was too young. Lizzie finally shut the album as tears rolled down her face. She was sitting in an almost empty room. She was getting away from this city and moving back home.

For Lizzie caught her husband, George, having an affair with his high school sweet heart, and she knew she couldn't take it anymore. Before that, George had cheated her financially and sometimes verbally attacked Lizzie. When she caught him in bed with the other woman, she knew she had had it and she knew she had to get away from the city.

Her mom offered her to come back home, saying a house down the street was going on sale. Lizzie agreed to this, thinking her parents could help her take care of her boys, Jake and Andrew, ages sixteen and twelve, while she went to find a job or maybe even go back to college. She was thirty-eight years old and never had a full time job.

The one positive thing that came out of this was that George did not want any custody of his children. He would agree to pay child support and had certain limited visitation rights, but Lizzie and George bother agreed that she would be taking care of the boys.

So, in Lizzie's old, white pick-up truck, she piled Jake and Andrew with a few other things while she hired a U-Haul to take the rest of their things to Hill Ridge.

After all these years, Lizzie was finally going home.

Gordo's Life Up to This Point

David Gordon's life on the other hand, was completely different. After attending the wedding, Gordo went to Grad school to finish up his education and after that, he went to Los Angeles for a few years to work on a few films and documentaries. He never married and had a steady career, which his life revolved around, until tragedy struck within the family.

Gordo's older first cousin, Paul Isaacson, and his wife, Andrea, died in a horrific car crash in Massachusetts about seven years after Lizzie's wedding, when Gordo was almost thirty. Gordo found out that the will of his cousin granted Gordo custody of their only daughter, Hailey, who was five at the time.

At first, Gordo wasn't going to agree with it, because he didn't really know Hailey, and although he was close with Paul when they were younger, he wasn't sure he was at a time in his life where he could take on this type of responsibility, especially since he wasn't married.

But, he reluctantly agreed to take temporary custody of the child until the court could find Hailey a permanent home. Andrea was an only child whose parents lived in Holland and Paul's father was living in a special home for people with Alzheimer's, while his mother died a few years earlier.

Unexpectedly, though, Gordo grew a fondness for the five year old and although he knew it would be quite a challenge, he decided he would, after all, take responsibility and permanent custody of Hailey. He moved in with his parents and took a break from his job to spend some time with his new child. He worked every once in a while on a documentary or independent film, traveling mainly up to Los Angeles and occasionally to New York, and when he did this, he would either take Hailey with him or leave her with his parents. He only did this once or twice a year because of family.

Miranda's Life Up to This Point

After graduating college at UCLA, Miranda moved across the country to be involved with public relations in New York. She eventually married someone she met in college, Ben, and they had a daughter, Allie, who was eight at this point.

Miranda talked to Lizzie on the phone as often as she could, but as with Lizzie, Miranda's relationship with Gordo had also disappeared. Especially after her parents moved out of Hill Ridge and into Miami. She never went back to Hill Ridge. She remained somewhat close to Lizzie, and visited Lizzie in Houston a few times, but mostly their relationship was through e-mail and phone calls, and after Miranda had Allie, she rarely kept up with Lizzie.

However, a month ago, Miranda did receive a phone call in the middle of the night from Lizzie, "Miranda," she said, sobbing, "I'm getting a divorce."

Miranda, who had no previous knowledge of the affairs of George or financial problems, seemed completely surprised by this and didn't know what to make of it. Lizzie explained what was going on and Miranda even came down to help Lizzie pack, and on the day Lizzie left, Miranda walked in as Lizzie was looking at her wedding album and crying, "Lizzie, are you ready to go?"

Lizzie sniffed and then sighed, looking up from the album, "Yeah."

"That's my girl," Miranda said, walking up to her and hugging her old best friend.

"Miranda," Lizzie said, "I don't know if I can take starting my life over again."

"Well," Miranda said, "How will you know unless you try?"

Lizzie rolled her eyes, wiping her tears from under her eyes with her hand, "Miranda, will you come visit me?"

"Of course I will," Miranda said, "I haven't been to Hill Ridge in over fifteen years. I've been looking for an excuse to visit and see what everyone has been up to these days."

"Thanks," Lizzie said.

"And Jake and Andrew will be fine. Just give them time, especially Jake. This is going to be hard for him, but you are going to have to be strong."

Lizzie nodded her head, "I know."

"And if you need me, just call me. I'm an airplane away, and I am not afraid to drag Ben and Allie out to California to help my best friend."

Lizzie laughed through her tears, "Thanks, Miranda."

"Just be strong, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Lizzie said, taking one last sigh, she took her album and walked out of her room with Miranda by her side.

After Miranda watched Lizzie drive away, wishing her the best and going back to New York.

Broken Relations

As some of you—okay scratch that—all of you are wondering, friendships between the once dynamic trio, especially between Gordo and Lizzie, changed dramatically.

It was mentioned earlier that some people, including Jo, Lizzie's mother, didn't want Lizzie to get married so soon. Some of them, Like dear old Gordo didn't want her to get married at all—well at least not to George West, anyway.

Lizzie and Gordo went out in high school and broke up right before college because of the distance, but Gordo always thought they would pick up where they left off after college. It turned out, he was wrong.

When Gordo heard of the engagement between Lizzie and George, not only was he surprised, but he also was disappointed. He still loved Lizzie and still wanted him all to himself.

He was pretty quiet about this with Lizzie, and wasn't planning on telling her at all, until one night, about a week before the wedding, it all just kind of came out.

Lizzie, Miranda, and Gordo were all in town for the wedding and they were out eating dinner and they were drinking, and Gordo got drunk and started asking all these questions to Lizzie and everything he felt for Lizzie came out through anger and this really upset Lizzie. Gordo later apologized, and Lizzie accepted his apology, but still, their relationship was clearly strained. After the wedding, Lizzie never called Gordo and Gordo never called Lizzie. There was that one year Lizzie sent Christmas cards, the year Jake was born, she send him a card, but never again did they talk to each other. In fact, at this point, Lizzie didn't even know where Gordo lived or what was going on in his life and the same could be said about Gordo for Lizzie. Now, more than ever, however, Lizzie wished she listened to Gordo's words, because she was sure if Gordo had told her how he felt earlier and in a more fashionable tone, maybe she wouldn't have had to go through all of this today.

As for Miranda and Gordo, well, Miranda was also there the night that Gordo let it all out and sided with Lizzie on the fact that what he said was inappropriate. Gordo apologized to her as well and Miranda also accepted the apology, but after the wedding, when she went to New York, she never bothered to give Gordo any calls or updates.

It was funny, though, because at the wedding, it was as if nothing had happened between the friends. Gordo and Miranda toasted the couple at the reception and Gordo and Lizzie even shared a dance. The incident was never spoken about again. The last words Gordo ever said to Lizzie was, "Have fun on your honeymoon!"

But now, the honeymoon was clearly over.

To be continued


	2. Chapter One

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE

I don't know what came over me when I originally came up with this idea and I'm still trying to work out the kinks. I know the prologue was just words grouped together, but the actual story starts now. I realize its different in that Lizzie has children that ** gasp **aren'tGordo's children and that everyone is a little older than usual, but it's different.

Thanks for the review, Ellen. It really meant a lot to me and I hope you like this story. Happy New Year!

Chapter One

Present Day Lizzie

The drive up to Hill Ridge was particularly hard for what was left of the McGuire-West Family. Jake, who was sixteen and had dirty blonde hair and blue eyes like his mother sat in the front and stared out the window for most of the drive. Lizzie could hardly blame him because she knew that he was angry with his father. She just wished she knew what she could say to Jake to make it a little easier. Sixteen was a hard year to move. Back in Houston, Jake played football and baseball, and now he had to move to a place he'd never really been to before and meet new people.

In the back seat of the truck sat Andrew, who said less than Jake did as he busied himself on his game system and listened to his headphones. Andrew had darker hair and green eyes. He looked more like his father than Jake. Unlike Jake, Andrew was handling the separation a lot better. Neither of the boys talked much about it or asked many questions, although they seemed to know what was going on. Jake in particular felt some bitter hatred toward his father at this time.

It was late at night when Lizzie pulled into their new home. Lizzie pulled into the driveway and turned off the car and looked ahead of her. This was it! This was her new home. Less than thirty-six hours earlier they left their old life behind.

Even when they got to the house, Jake didn't say anything. Andrew fell asleep a few hours earlier. Lizzie opened the door and got out of the car and Jake did the same, "Mom, do you want me to wake up Andrew?"

Lizzie looked from the house to her older son and felt like crying. Could she really do this? Pack up her old life and greet this new one with open arms? Could the kids handle this? School started in two weeks and Jake was starting his junior year while Andrew was going into seventh grade. She smiled, "Yeah, that would be great, thanks."

Jake nodded and opened the back door of the truck while Lizzie slowly walked to the front door of the house. There was no turning back now. She signed the contract weeks ago and this was it. The house was a little bit smaller than her house growing up. It had brick walls around it and was a fairly simple layout. Lizzie stood at the front door, deciding to wait for Jake and Andrew until she opened the door. A few seconds later, Jake appeared and Andrew was staggering tiredly behind him.

"Ready?" Lizzie asked.

Jake nodded his head, "Yeah, mom. Open the door."

Lizzie did it. She opened it.

"Mom?" Andrew said, "Can we go inside?"

Instead of answering, Lizzie pushed the door open a little more and stepped into the house. Jake and Andrew came behind her but they didn't feel nearly as excited as their mother did.

Some of their stuff was already there, but most of it was in boxes. A week earlier, Lizzie started moving some furniture in, like beds and sofas, so Jake and Andrew ran upstairs to their rooms. Lizzie sighed as she took in the scent of her new place to call home. She had seen this place several times, but this time seemed different. She walked through every room until she finally stopped upstairs in her own room. Her master bedroom that belonged only to her. Soon after that, Lizzie fell asleep.

88

The next Morning

After a peaceful night of sleeping, Lizzie woke up in the middle of the morning and lay there in bed for a few moments, enjoying the peace.

Finally, she went downstairs to find Jake in the kitchen putting up some of their plates from their old home from a box and into a cabinet, "Oh, Jake, you didn't have to do that," Lizzie said.

Jake, who was dressed in jeans and a white T-shirt and towered over Lizzie by a couple of inches, shrugged, "I have nothing else better to do."

"Where's Andrew?"

"Outside. I think he went to see grandma."

Lizzie yawned, "Did you have a good night sleep?"

Jake nodded, "Yeah, it was okay."

Lizzie smiled at her son sympathetically, knowing that this was hard for him. She put her hand on his shoulder, "Jake," she said, "Thank you so much for all of your help. I really do appreciate it."

"No problem," he said, but he didn't look at his mother, "It was nothing."

"Well, it is something to me. This transition is going to be hard for all of us and I know it will take time, but I think that it will all work out for the best."

Jake nodded his head as he threw away the box, "Yeah, I know."

"Do you miss Houston?"

Jake froze and after a few seconds shook his head, "No, mom, I don't. I hope I never see dad again," and with that, Jake stormed off upstairs.

It broke her heart to see him like that, so filled with emotions bottled up. A few seconds later, Andrew came running in the house, "Mom! Mom! Look who's here!" and Lizzie looked behind Andrew and saw that grandma was coming inside.

Jo walked inside and looked at Lizzie and held out her arms, "Lizzie!"

Lizzie hugged her mom and as the two embraced, tears flowed down Lizzie's cheek. Jo noticed her daughter crying and it made her sad, "Oh, Lizzie!" Jo said, as she wiped Lizzie's tears off with her fingers, "everything is going to be just fine. Trust me. Your dad and I are just down the street and although it might take a while to make this transition, I know it will work."

"I know, mom," Lizzie said, as she went to the sink to work on some dishes, "I'm just worried, that's all. I mean, what if Jake and Andrew hate it here? And what about me? Have I really thought everything through? I'm almost forty and I've never really worked. Am I over my head?"

Jo shook her head, "No, not at all. In fact, honey, I cannot tell you enough how proud daddy and I are of you. Lizzie, you're home!!"

Lizzie smiled, even though the stress was killing her, "After we finish unpacking, I promised Jake I would take him to the used car lot and get him a car. Both of the boys need some clothes for school and I also need to make sure I registered them. I need to give them a tour of Hill Ridge to let them know they have options for the weekend. Andrew wants to sign up for soccer. I need to call Miranda and tell her we are here and convince her that I'll be okay."

"Honey," Jo said, sitting her daughter down at the kitchen table, "all of those things can wait, but first I think you need to just breathe."

Lizzie took in a deep breath and let it out. "Now, I registered the boys for school over a week ago. Jake's in the high school and Andrew is in the middle school. Later this afternoon, daddy and I will come over and help you unpack. Daddy can also help by taking Jake to the car dealership. He knows the owner and could probably get you a better price. We can go shopping at any time this week and the same goes for the tour. I'll check with the local league about sports," Jo said, sitting down next to Lizzie, "Honey, we're here to help you. We'll help you financially until you get a job and we'll also help with the boys. As for you, once the boys get settled, they have a few things to do at the recreational center so you can make new friends. There are support groups, a book club, garden club, history club, women's club, social clubs…maybe that will help you meet people your age and make new friends. Please, if there is anything we can do for you, tell us."

Lizzie nodded her head, "I will," she sighed, "I guess I'll just feel a lot better once the divorce is finalized and I can find closure and move on. At least he didn't want Jake and Andrew. At least he's willingly giving me $3000 a month to raise and educate them. If he never talks to them again it will be too soon."

"Oh, Lizzie," Jo said, "I know how hard this is for you and I know that everyone is thinking fairly negative thoughts toward George, but for the sake of Jake and Andrew, I don't think you should talk about him like that in front of them."

Lizzie sighed, "I know, it's just so easy to hate him right now, after what he did to us."

"Believe me, I know. I wouldn't mind giving the guy a piece of my mind myself, but that's not going to solve anything. In fact, I think it might help if you want to talk about this with a professional."

Lizzie shook her head, "No, I'm fine. I'm just emotionally exhausted right now."

"Well," Jo said, "why don't you rest for a while and when we're ready for a break from all this unpacking, we'll go out to lunch and give the boys a tour of their new town."

"Are you sure?"

Jo nodded, "Positive. If anything goes in your room, we'll leave it outside your door."

"Thanks, mom," Lizzie said.

"You're more than welcome."

"No, really," Lizzie said, standing up, "I didn't know how I was going to get through this alone, but knowing you are here makes me feel positive that everything will work out eventually."

"And it will," Jo said, kissing Lizzie on the cheek and heading outside, "Get some rest."

Lizzie did just that.

88

In the meantime, fifteen year old Hailey Isaacson was in her room talking on the phone with her friend when she heard a light knock on the door. Thinking it was Aunt Roberta or Uncle Howard wanting to use the phone, she said, "Kelly, I want to hear the rest of what happened between you and Will, but can I call you back? Okay, great. I'll call you later." Then, as she hung up the phone, she called, "I'm off!"

The door opened, however, and Hailey's face lit up as she jumped off her bed, "Uncle David!!"

They hugged as Gordo said, "You haven't called me 'uncle' in a while. Where did that come from."

"Well, I haven't seen you in over two weeks, you might as well be an uncle," Hailey said, sitting back on her bed. She smirked, "did you bring me anything, Davie? Did you buy me New York?"

Because they were so close, Gordo didn't really find the term "Uncle David" very endearing when he adopted Hailey. On the other hand, Hailey already had someone she called "dad," and since Gordo didn't think that was appropriate, he suggested his formal name, David, or his childhood nickname, Gordo. Since he lived with his parents and all of his other nieces and nephews called him Uncle David, however, he asked her to call him David. When Hailey was about eight years old, she started calling him "Davie," and this became his new name. It wasn't "dad," but it meant the same thing to her.

"I already bought you New York last spring," Gordo said, jokingly, "This time, I bought you Boston and Baltimore to add to your collection."

"Fun!" Hailey said, "but seriously, did you get me anything?"

Gordo rolled his eyes, "What are you today? Eleven?"

Her eyes widened, "Sorry! I'm just excited to see you, that's all. I mean, you have no idea what it's like to be a fifteen year old girl and live with two retired psychologists."

"Hey! Those 'retired psychologists' happen to be my parents and they also helped raise you."

"I know, but they don't really let me do anything. What did you do when you were younger that make them so…cautious."

Gordo shrugged, "It had nothing to do with me. I was a saint."

"You mean, they didn't make you come home every night of the summer by eight o'clock?"

"Hey!" Gordo said, "Unlike someone I know, I didn't spend the night anywhere without calling and I didn't almost fail two classes."

"I know, I know. You were perfect in every way possible. You dated one girl in high school…what was her name?? Oh, right, Lizzie…and you made straight A's all your life."

Gordo shook his head, "well, we won't get into it, but once you can prove that you are responsible enough, we'll talk about privileges. In the meantime, you want to go out to lunch today, just you and me?"

"Sure," she said, "but tomorrow, do you mind taking me to the mall?"

"Oooh," Gordo said, making a face. Gordo didn't like the mall, "are you sure?"

Hailey smirked, "Yeah, I need to get some new clothes and some school supplies."

Gordo sighed, "Okay, fine. I'll do it because I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Okay," Gordo said, "well, be ready in about an hour and I'll be in my room if you need me."

"Okay," Hailey said. Gordo shut the door behind him. Hailey called Kelly back to hear the rest of the story and they talked a little longer.

Despite the mention of Hailey spending the night somewhere without calling and her almost failing two classes, Hailey was a good kid. She was about to be a sophomore in high school and while she wasn't the most unpopular kid at school, she wasn't considered a geek, either. She had a few close friends that she hung out with, and dated a few guys, but nothing was too serious.

As for Gordo, he was busier than ever, trying to finish up a film. Most of Gordo's social life was in LA and New York. In fact, he often contemplated moving back to LA after Hailey finished high school. Like Hailey, Gordo also dated a few women, but nothing was ever too serious. Between not having enough time, traveling, and Hailey, he didn't spend too much time worrying about women.

Despite everything going on in his life, Gordo still found himself to be quite lonely in a way.

He hadn't given up quite yet.

Oooo ! ooooO

I hope you enjoy this so far, even though it's still in the set up process.

piacere


	3. Chapter Two

I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE!

I'm so glad that people like this story so far. To answer a few people's questions and comments, here is this. Anything could happen between anybody so far…including Jake and Hailey. Also, Hailey is not a lesbian. What I meant by "Like Hailey, Gordo had also dated a few women," I meant that as a comment to their personalities and dating life. I could see how that could confuse one, though. I'll fix it later.

Chapter Two

A week passed since Lizzie and her crew moved in, and things were progressing. It was a slow process, but things seemed to be happening. Jake and Andrew had one week until school started. Jake got a car---a Jeep, and Andrew was registered for soccer. Hill Ridge seemed small to them compared to what they were used to, and it was---Hill Ridge may have been a small city of 100,000 or so, but that was nothing compared to Houston. Feeling guilty for taking away one of the few good things they left in Texas---the city life, Lizzie promised to take them into Los Angeles as soon as they were officially settled and she felt comfortable enough for her work.

That was another story. Lizzie was doing what she never imagined she would do. With no experience on her résumé other than her occasional work at the bar in Houston, Lizzie was working as an assistant at a law firm. This meant Lizzie would spend time running errands, filing papers, and getting the mail for the Law Offices of Tate, Dexter, and Trent. The only reason she managed to get the job was through---of all people---Larry Tudgeman. After Lizzie came home from three interviews and the start of her career looked very unlikely, Jo made a few calls, including one to Ida Tudgeman, who contacted her son, Larry. Larry, who was apparently a popular lawyer in Burbank, said he would see what he could do and that Friday, he called and said he's contacted a friend he went to law school with had an assistant that left recently to raise her young children and that he would give her a call the following Monday. (As confusing as it may sound, all of it's true.)

That following Monday afternoon, Larry's friend, Mark Trent called and conducted a short interview on the phone. Before Lizzie even knew exactly what she was getting into, she had the job. She would start the next morning, or today.

Between looking for a job, unpacking, and getting her boys ready for school, Lizzie also managed to find time to show the boys around the place. They didn't seem too enthusiastic about the size of Hill Ridge, as they were used to a place with a downtown, midtown, and uptown, that was filled with, what Andrew insisted on calling "substance."

"Oh," Lizzie said, as she drove them in her truck. The first thing she was going to do after the boys were in school was to trade in for a sedan of some type, "just because you are used to Starbucks on every corner and a McDonald's every half a mile with random stores and malls in between, doesn't mean this place lacks substance. In fact, the idea of having fewer places to shop and being a lot smaller in size and population, gives it 'personality.'" Of course, the boys had been there before to visit their grandparents and everything, but that was for only days at a time. Even then, Grammy and Granddaddy (Jo and Sam) would take them to museums and find things for them to do every day to keep them entertained. Now that they were living there, it seemed pointless for them to find something special to keep them entertained.

When the tour was over, Lizzie took them to Lizzie's favorite pastime, the Digital Bean, which seemed to be just as popular now as it was when she was younger. Once they got inside, Lizzie quickly realized that there were few people there that looked over twenty. They ordered drinks and Lizzie asked Jake what he thought.

Jake shrugged, "It's okay." Lizzie sighed. Was Jake ever going to be happy?

"Well, when I was younger, this was 'the place to be' after school and all of my friends and I would come here, do our homework, and, well, some of the most important discussions I ever had in my junior high and high school career took place here."

"Isn't this the place you had your first job?" Andrew asked.

"Yeah," Jake said, "and she was also fired, like, two weeks later."

"Hey!" Lizzie said, "It's not like you've ever had a job. Speaking of jobs, though, since money will be pretty tight for the next few months, you might want to start looking for something on the weekends or after school."

"Can't you just pay me for picking up Andrew and staying with him for a couple of hours every day or something?"

"Um, yeah…" Lizzie said, not impressed with his suggestion, "Somehow, once school starts and you make friends and become active in social activities and stuff, you'll wish you didn't have to be with your brother. Besides, I wouldn't pay you for that, anyway. Unlike your Uncle Matt, Andrew is a responsible and well- behaved twelve year old. Besides, at the rate I'm going with this job search, I might be home in the afternoons, anyway…and I work for FREE."

"So what do you suggest that I do?"

Lizzie shrugged, "You don't have to do anything you don't want to. I just thought you might want money for the weekend. Like, for instance, when I was an underclassman, my mom agreed to let our neighbor give me a ride to school everyday and she was paid twenty dollars a week. Maybe you could find some desperate freshman or sophomore who hates the bus so much that they are willing to pay you. You'd be surprised how many people hated the bus when I was around…and you can't look me right in the eye and say you never complained about the bus."

Jake shrugged, "Whatever. I'll check out my other options."

Lizzie sighed heavily as they picked up their drinks and headed outside, "I was only trying to help. Come on, Andrew, you're guitar lessons start in a half an hour and I need to get home and finish with the living room."

Andrew and Jake followed their mom. Things up to this point hadn't improved much, although Andrew seemed to have found some friends on the street and Jake spent most of his time in his room, talking to his old friends online and complaining about this Hell Hole in the middle of California that he was apparently supposed to call home.

888

"Davie?" Hailey asked, as she walked into the living room, where Gordo, who was wearing his reading glassed, was reading the paper.

Gordo looked up from his newspaper and raised his eyebrows, "Hmm?"

"When's the next time you're going out of town?"

Gordo shrugged, "I don't know…probably sometime in October. Why?"

"Well," Hailey began, "Now that I'm fifteen and everything, I was thinking this week would be a great opportunity to get my permit. I've been studying and I think I'm ready."

Gordo put down his paper and took off his glasses, wiping them clean with his breath and shirt before he brought the part that went behind his ear to his lips, thoughtfully, "Have you talked to my parents about this?"

"No…they aren't MY parents. You're my legal guardian."

Gordo shrugged, "It's okay with me, but one of them will have to take you. I have to meet with an editor tomorrow and speak at a class in UCLA on Thursday. The weekend isn't good because I have to meet with some financial guy to talk about the budget of my next project and then Saturday…hey, what about Saturday? Is Saturday good for you?"

Hailey looked a little surprised, "really? Are you serious?"

"Um…why not?"

Hailey shrieked, "This is going to be so cool!"

Gordo shrugged, "If you say so."

Hailey rolled her eyes, "Well, the coolest part is that next year, I will be able to drive myself to school and all these places with my brand new Maserati Quattroporte that you are going to give me for my birthday next spring and it will be so cool."

"Um, sure, Hails. In fact, let me call my friend at the Maserati factory right now so he can go ahead and start making one custom made just for you…it should only be an extra hundred thousand or so…no big deal," Gordo said, with a hint of sarcasm.

"Hey! A girl can dream, can't she?"

"You can dream all you want, but don't expect it to come true. Besides, I've always told you that you're first car is going to be used. I had a…an acquaintance in high school that got in four accidents before she had her car for a year."

"Oh, Kelly's brother was in two accidents before he made it through the first week. As long as it's reasonably attractive and dependable, I'll survive."

"Keep up the good grades, and I think we might be able to handle that."

"Awesome," Hailey said, and Gordo expected she was finished with the conversation, but Hailey didn't move.

"Is there something else I could help you with or are you just standing there because you have nothing better to do?" Gordo asked.

"Um, well," she started, but she seemed to struggle slightly.

Gordo looked at his niece as if he knew something was up, "Spit it out."

"Well, the thing is, Davie, now that I'm fifteen and I'm going to be a sophomore and everything, I think I'm getting a little too old for the bus."

Gordo shrugged, "You've got two feet. You know the roads. You can walk."

"Actually, I was sort of thinking about asking someone who is, you know, older and excels in driving and is someone that you and I both trust, to drive me to school in the morning."

"You mean like a…teacher?"

"NO!" Hailey practically screamed, "God, no! Not in a million years!"

Gordo smiled, "I know what you mean…do you have anyone in mind?"

"No…" Hailey said, "but it shouldn't be too much trouble. You have no idea how many upperclassmen take underclassmen to school just for forty dollars to blow over the weekend."

"I don't know about this…"

"Oh, come on! Don't you remember being my age? Don't you remember how you felt when everyone else seemed to be driving to school and you were stuck on the bus? Please?"

Gordo thought about this for a minute. Sure, he remembered being her age, and he also remembered that this whole giving rides to underclassmen was also popular when he was in high school, but Hailey seemed too young. Then again, she wasn't all that young.

Gordo sighed, "I'll tell you what," he offered, "If you find someone within these next few days who is willing to drive you to school and you let me meet the person…I'll think about it."

Hailey smiled, barely managing to withhold another squeal. "Oh, thank you!" she hugged her awesome uncle, "You are the coolest person ever!"

Gordo grinned, "Well, I try."

After the hug, Hailey left Gordo to go up to her room so she could call people to see if they had any ideas for who might be able to take her to school. To her disappointment, no one was able to give her much help, so it looked like she was going to have to start working on finding someone on her own. Hailey was determined about finding someone, as the prospect of another year on the bus made her almost sick in the stomach and also, because, of course, no one else she knew was taking the bus this year.

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A/N: Are things starting to make more sense? Can you start to guess what is going to happen? I mean, I don't know what carpooling could possibly have to do with either of these two meeting…none at all…

Next chapter to be out SOON.


	4. Chapter Three

I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE.

Chapter Three

That Friday afternoon, Kelly's boyfriend, Matt, who could drive, took Kelly and Hailey to the Digital Bean for something refreshing after they saw a movie. While Kelly and Matt were being all lovey-dovey towards each other while they were waiting for their non fat latte (Kelly) and Mocha Freeze (Matt), Hailey looked around to see if she saw anyone she knew. It had been three days since she talked to Gordo about the whole carpooling thing, and Hailey had been fairly unsuccessful in her search. Not only did most of the upperclassmen intimidate her, but also everyone else seemed to already "be taken."

It looked like it would be another year on the bus, or at least until she found someone in one of her classes.

As soon as she got her drink, Hailey went to her favorite table in the place…near the window next to the entrance. She wasn't paying much attention as she was fishing through her purse as she headed for the table when oops! Hailey ran into someone, and this caused her to spill her hot chocolate all over her white shirt.

"Oh! I'm so sorry!" the person that ran into her said. She noticed it was a guy she'd never seen before as he hurried and handed her a few paper napkins.

Hailey, a little mad because of the embarrassment factor, shook her head as she accepted the napkins, "It's okay," she started wiping the shirt. She held the shirt away from her, as the hot chocolate was, by definition, HOT.

"Um," the guy asked, trying to figure out if there was anything to do to help her, as the napkins didn't do much, "Andrew, you got your soccer jersey today, didn't you?"

It was then that Hailey noticed that the guy wasn't alone. With the guy was a younger guy, who Hailey assumed was his brother, who, although he didn't seemed too thrilled with what he knew was about to happen, said, "Yeah. Give me your keys."

"I'm fine," Hailey insisted, "I'm going home soon, anyway."

The guy shook his head as he dug into his pockets for his keys and handed them to his brother, "No, it's fine," he said, as Andrew went out the door, "Believe me, you'll be miserable holding that shirt like that after five minutes. Besides, the kid has a brand new shirt that he won't need for another three or four weeks. He can afford to give it up for a few days."

Hailey smiled, "Thanks." She noticed his accent, which revealed that he wasn't from around here…he had sort of this southern-meets-city accent that wasn't too heavy, but it was enough to be noticeable.

A moment later, Andrew reappeared, holding a gray jersey with black lettering. He presented the shirt to Hailey and said that he was going to go ahead and order. Hailey accepted the shirt, disappeared into the bathroom, and reappeared two minutes later with the new shirt. It fit her perfectly. Andrew's hormones hadn't quite kicked in and he wore a medium shirt size. On the front of the jersey, it read, "North Hill Ridge Youth League," and the back displayed his number and "WEST" printed above the number.

When she reappeared, she noticed the guy and his brother were waiting for whatever they ordered. Before she could walk up to him to ask him how to return it, Kelly appeared, "Hey! Where'd you go?" she asked and then looked at Hailey's wardrobe, "hey, were you wearing that shirt when we came in?"

"No, I had to change," Hailey said, then she explained what happened, "I guess that's what I get for wanting to drink hot chocolate in the summer."

"Do you want the rest of mine? I mean, I won't drink it all," Kelly offered.

"No, I'm good," Hailey said, peering over to make sure that the owner of the shirt was still there, "This isn't my shirt and I don't want to take any chances and ruin the poor guy's soccer uniform."

Kelly shrugged, "Well, come on! Let's sit down! I only have an hour until my mom wants me to come. I have to finish up some reading."

"I'll be there in a minute," Hailey said, "I need to find out how to give this guy his shirt back."

"Okay."

Kelly sat down with Matt while Hailey went to the counter, where the brothers were just now getting their drinks and cookies. The only guy turned and when he saw Hailey again he said, "Whoa! I almost ran into you again!"

Hailey smiled, "Thank you for the shirt. How can I get it back to you?"

"Um…" he said, thinking about it, "where do you live? If I could get it from you tomorrow or Sunday or sometime next week, that would be great."

"Okay," Hailey said, and she gave him her address and phone number.

"I'm Hailey, by the way," she said, "you know, just in case when you call, someone else picks up. Ask for Hailey."

The guy nodded, then he realized he'd not introduced himself, "I'm Jake."

"And I'm Andrew," Andrew said, feeling a little awkward. This was his shirt they were dealing with, after all.

Hailey smiled, "Nice to meet you."

"I'll see you in a few days," Jake said, waving as he and Andrew started for the exit.

Once they were safely outside, Andrew proceeded to speak up, "Who do you think you are? You can't just offer some random girl MY brand NEW shirt just because SHE ran into YOU."

"I'm sorry, but what did you want me to do? I knew we had an extra shirt and that hers was messed up. She's going to give it back."

"Yeah, well why couldn't you have just offered her your own shirt if you were so determined to help?"

"Because I've been wearing this shirt since last night. Besides, that would leave me without a shirt."

Andrew sighed as Jake unlocked the door to his Jeep and he let himself in on the passenger side, "If something happens to the shirt, you're paying for it."

"Okay, fine," Jake said, "I'll be responsible."

Jake started the car and they were on their way home.

In the meantime, Hailey walked back to her friends and sat down. "Did you know that guy?" Kelly asked.

"No," Hailey said, "Why? Did you?"

"I've never seen him before in my life. He must be new," Kelly said, then she shrugged, "the older one is kind of cute. I don't know if I'd accept a shirt from a stranger, but at least he looks normal."

"Okay…" Hailey said, not knowing what else she could say. Kelly had been known to say things that which the only appropriate response was along the same lines as what she just said.

After they finished with their drinks, they left the Digital Bean. Hailey was dropped off first and when she went inside, the first person she saw was Gordo, who was in the living room, watching TV. "Hey! How was the movie?" He called, after he heard the door open."

"It was okay," she called back, and then went to him to see what he was up to.

"Nothing spectacular? Just okay? Three out of five stars? One thumb up?" Gordo mused, as he always did when it came to movies.

"Well, it was nothing you'd be interested in, as it was a chick flick. I thought it was cute, but nothing too special."

"Did you have fun?"

"Yep."

"Are you ready for the test tomorrow?"

Hailey nodded, "I was born to be ready."

"Awesome. I'm getting you up at seven. I don't want to leave a minute after eight. It's California. It's hot. I may love you, but I really don't want to be at the DMV half the day."

"Fine," She walked into the room more to see what he was watching, "What is this?"

"Oh, some Lifetime movie a friend of mine produced. You can change it if you want. Here, get the remote."

Hailey walked over to the bookshelf next to the TV to get the remote.

"Is that a new shirt?" Gordo asked.

"No, It's not mine. I had to borrow it because I spilled coffee all over my other shirt," Hailey said and she handed him the remote.

"Who is this 'West' kid?" Gordo asked, recognizing the name, although he wasn't sure how. Besides, "West" is a fairly popular name.

"A guy who was in the Digital Bean when I was there. I think they just moved here."

Gordo raised his eyebrow, "A guy, huh? Should I be worried?"

Hailey smirked, "I don't know. Does it worry you that I borrow a shirt from a kid that couldn't be older than thirteen?"

Gordo relaxed a little, "I'm not going to receive a random call tonight from some crazed mother demanding his son's shirt after she sees he's come home shirtless, am I?"

Hailey laughed, "I doubt it. He wasn't wearing it at the time. It was in his brother's car. His brother is the one who offered it to me. He's the one I bumped into."

Gordo shook his head disbelievingly, "I don't think I'll ever understand teenagers. I didn't understand them when I was one, and I don't think I'm about to try. If its not drugs, its drinking, and if its not drinking, its boys, and if its not boys…its…taking a shirt from a random stranger. I'm perplexed…"

"Well, while you deal with your perplexity, I'm going to be upstairs. Call me when dinner is ready," she said, and she headed towards her room.

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That Sunday, the day after Hailey took and PASSED her written test, thus giving her a permit, Hailey was working out her wardrobe for the next day when the phone rang. She picked it up and so did Aunt Roberta. "Hi. May I please speak to Hailey?" a Jake asked.

"I got it," she said, referring to her Aunt. She waited until she heard a click before she spoke up, "Hey. I was wondering when you were going to call. The jersey is ready."

"Awesome. We told my mom that it was coming next practice and I didn't realize that his next practice is this afternoon."

"I'm sorry," she said, feeling bad, "I didn't want you to lie about it."

"No, its okay. I'll come by after I drop Andrew off at practice. Give me time, though, because I haven't lived here that long and I don't know the roads that well."

"I could drop it off," she offered, "Where do you live?"

"No, no. It's not a problem. Really---I think you live really close to me, actually. I'll be there in about a half an hour."

"Okay. The shirt will be waiting."

"Thanks."

She hung up the phone. A little over a half an hour later, the doorbell rang. Hailey started hopping down the stairs, but unfortunately, Gordo beat her to the door. Once it was opened, he asked the young man who was at the other side, "may I help you?"

"Uhh," he said, looking around, feeling a little uncomfortable, "Does Hailey live here?"

"I got it," Hailey said, appearing next to Gordo. She smiled at Jake, "hey."

Gordo didn't go anywhere, though. Hailey looked at him questioningly and he just shrugged, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"

Hailey blushed and then rolled her eyes, realizing the only clean way to get out of this was to go ahead and introduce the guy, "Okay. Uncle David, this is Jake. Jake, this is my Uncle David." Jake held out his hand and impressed, Gordo shook the young man's hand.

"Nice to meet you, Jake," Gordo said.

Before they had a chance to get too chummy, Hailey handed him the jersey, which was neatly folded on the stairs, "Here you go. It's washed and just like new. Thank you."

It was then that Gordo realized what was going on as Jake took the shirt, "Thanks," he said. Nonetheless, Gordo was still curious. For reasons he couldn't explain, Jake made him a little nervous. It was something about his face…something about the way he talked. It was something…

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I hope you still enjoy this…I should be updating sometime within the next seven days. Exams are this week, though, so we'll see…review…


	5. Chapter Four

I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE

I don't have school today…I don't want to study for exams…here's another chapter…thank you for the reviews.

Chapter Four

The next morning, the Monday of the first day of school, Jake was woken up by the sound of his screeching alarm clock. (Okay, maybe it wasn't screeching, but at 6:00 in the morning, any noise can be screeching to anyone, especially a teenager) He shut it off, but it took him another ten minutes before he got up. He was sure he would be nervous by now, but his nerves hadn't gotten the better of him yet. In some ways, he was glad school was finally starting. That way, he'd have something to do with his day other than talking to his old friends and taking his brother places just so he could do something.

It was hard. Packing up and loosing an old life to start a brand new one, not knowing anyone. He had good friends back home and was fairly popular. He'd had a girlfriend the year before, but he broke it off when he found out he was moving over the summer. He missed Austin, but the thing that made him never want to go back was his father. He didn't care if he ever saw his dad again. George West never went to his son's baseball and football games. He never helped them with any difficult decision. He spent six out of seven nights at the family bar, not coming home until two or three in the morning. As Jake was growing up, he thought his father was the coolest guy ever. He barely ever saw him, but he thought his father was something special. He thought the reason his parents were so in love was because they spent every morning and afternoon together and his mother got to see a side of him that he would never see. The older he got, however, the more unpleasant he realized everything was. During his freshman and sophomore year, he noticed a new side of his mom. He caught her crying every so often and when he heard the coldness whenever his parents were together, he figured it out.

George West only showed up at one of Jake's football games. It was the last game of the regular season and after the game, George took him out to dinner, explaining only what he'd been waiting to hear his mother tell him, "We're separating. You're mother and I have decided that we no longer love each other."

The only thing Jake could do was icily stare at his father as he spoke. Who could blame him? Jake could tell his father showed no remorse. Jake knew what was going on. It was when his father went on to say, "I love you and Andrew, I really do, but I'm at a point in my life where I just want to figure some things out. I may not be seeing you a lot for the next few years, but that doesn't mean I don't love you," that Jake decided he never wanted to see his asshole of a father ever again.

In that respect, he was glad they moved.

Once he got up from his bed, Jake maneuvered his way around his room to get dressed and get ready for the day. He had an early meeting with the school counselor to discuss his schedule. Once he was ready, he left his room, went downstairs, where his mom was sitting at the island, reading something, while eating a muffin, "Hey," she said as he passed her and opened the refrigerator to get himself some orange juice, "do you need anything?"

"Besides money for lunch," he said, "I'm good."

Lizzie reached for her purse and gave him some money, "Do you have any questions? Do you remember what building you are supposed to go to?"

Jake nodded as he grabbed a protein bar from the cabinet, "I think I can figure it out. I have to be there at 7:15."

"Okay," Lizzie said and she stood up and smiled at her son, "Call me if you aren't coming home after school. Have a good day!"

"You, too!" he said as he closed the door behind him.

And he was off. Ten minutes later, he arrived at the school, and realized that almost no one else was there. School didn't start for another hour. He saw a few people hanging out in the halls, talking to each other. He went to the offices and signed in. Five minutes later, the counselor appeared and let him into her office.

She asked him a few questions, like what language he took, sciences he had taken, and questions like that, and after that, she explained to him his new schedule and printed him out a copy. Because of the requirements, it looked like he would be taking a few sophomore classes, including health and chemistry. She also went over the rules and policies of the school and explained to him about electives and after school activities. She also went over athletics, after she saw that he played football and baseball on his transcript. He said he wasn't sure about baseball, but he knew he wasn't going to play football this year. After what happened with his dad at that game, he knew he would probably never look at football the same way again.

By the time the meeting was over, it was almost time for class to start. Jake went to his locker and then to class, and it was then that nerves started kicking in.

By the time half the day was over and done with, Jake was starting to feel like his life would be the same. Uncomfortable with simply inviting himself to sit with a group of people during lunch, he went to the library. He felt like a loser. He knew he wasn't and figured that this was all temporary, but since he'd known all the friends he had since he could remember, he wasn't used to being alone. He wasn't used to not talking in his classes. Maybe he would have been better off in Austin…

He was thinking about this until it was time for Spanish. Jake had two classes left: Spanish and health. Jake took an accelerated Spanish class with a lot of seniors and a few juniors. One of the first things the teacher did was split them up in three groups of five. She explained to them, in Spanish, of course, "this is your study group for the year. This year, the Spanish department is going to focus on three elements of Spanish: culture, history, and literature. Every year, we host a festival for the entire Hill Ridge community. While we will be working on other things this year, we've decided that once a week, we would like you to get together with your group to plan the festival, which will count as thirty percent of your final grade."

There were four other people in Jake's group, including three seniors and one junior. At first, Jake was hesitant to speak up, but once everyone started talking about his or her summer (in English) Jake lightened up a little, and decided he liked these people. The other junior, Will, started talking to him after the seniors, who were all girls and all seemed to know each other had their own conversation happening.

"You're in my English class, aren't you?" Will asked.

"Yeah," Jake said, diverting his attention to one of the girl's story about what happened when she was in Fiji.

"You're one of the new guys, aren't you?"

"Yeah, I just moved here."

Will looked unimpressed, "Okay, why the hell did your family move here? I mean, of all the places in California, why'd you go to Hill Ridge?"

"Uhh," Jake said, trying to avoid the complete truth. He shrugged, "I don't know. My mom grew up here and she wanted to get out of Austin, which is where I grew up."

Will, still looking unimpressed, shook his head, "you mean, you left a city with millions of people to settle for this pitiful town where there isn't anything to do?"

Jake nodded, "pretty much. It's not too bad, though."

"If you say so…" he said, and then decided to change the subject, "Listen, I know you hardly know me. I'm Will, by the way, but some of us are sticking around after school to play Ultimate Frisbee. Want to come?"

Jake shrugged, "Sure."

"Cool. We're meeting at three in the courtyard," he said, and he would have continued, but it was then that the teacher came to their group and reprimanded them for not speaking in Spanish.

By the time she finished, the class was almost over and it was time for Jake to go to Health, which was possibly the most entertaining class of the day, but only because the teacher was so unusually honest and oh, yeah…out of the ten people that took the class when he did, he was the only guy…and to make him even more special, he was also the only junior.

"Good afternoon, kids, I'm your health teacher, Ms. Roe. Now, for those of you who are completely out of the loop, I'm going to explain to you what this class is all about. About four years ago, after an outbreak of a CERTAIN disease occurred with our students, the administrators decided to make this class a required class to graduate. As you can see, you are mostly sophomores and females, and that's only because the guys have to take PE now. But, as you can see, we have a student with us who either managed to avoid this class last year or is new to this school. It's okay, though, because in the past we've had some people complain that this class should be coed. So consider this guy…Jake is it? … an experiment."

Ms. Roe was about to get into the topics of the class when the door, which closed after the class began, opened, and another girl appeared. Jake, who was slumping in his seat in the back of the classroom, sat up, though, because he knew the girl.

"Sorry I'm late, Ms. Roe," Hailey said, with a look of exhaustion on her face, "I didn't know I had this class."

"It's okay, just don't make a habit of it," Ms. Roe said, sighing as if she had better things to do than teach this class, "take a seat."

Hailey looked around the room and sort of did a double take when she looked at the back and saw Jake there. She smiled politely and sat down a few rows ahead of him.

"Now then," Ms. Roe said, "For those of you who think this is a course on 'sexual education,' you were completely misinformed. Otherwise, Hotshot in the back row wouldn't be here." She was referring to Jake, the only male in the classroom. She continued, "No, no, no. This is NOT sex ed. This is health. 'What is health?' you ask? Well, health is protecting your body. This includes nutrition, circulation, hygiene, exercise, diseases, and includes sex. How can you keep your body healthy?"

Ms. Roe handed them a syllabus and handed out textbooks and went onto explain what was expected of them in class. Their homework for that night was to write a paragraph on what "being healthy" means to them.

As they were leaving the class, Jake thought about catching up with Hailey, as she was the first person around his age that he met, but Hailey seemed to have things to do, as she abruptly left the classroom before he could even see where she was going. It was okay, though, because he also had things to do, like go to the courtyard to play ultimate Frisbee.

After he packed up his stuff and put it in the back of his Jeep, he called his mom to let him know what he was doing, and then went to the courtyard.

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After health, Hailey ran to see if she could find Matt and Kelly. That morning on the bus made her want to scream. Some random freshman ended up sitting next to her, and his body odor alone made her almost gag. When she finally saw Kelly, who was hanging onto Matt's shoulder in the hall, she ran to them. "Matt!" she said, rather loudly, and excitedly, "You have got to take me home! You're going home right now, aren't you?"

Kelly almost burst out laughing, "Wow, Hailey! You said the bus was bad this morning. Was it really THAT bad?"

"Um, yeah, Kel," Hailey said, then she turned her attention back to Matt, "Listen, I'd rather walk home that go back on that bus, but I'd rather not walk all the way home. Please, just for this week? That'll give me enough time to get over this phobia or find someone to give me rides."

"I'd love to help you out, Hails," Matt said, "but some of the guys have this game of UF planned in the courtyard. It could be another hour or so before we leave."

"You want to watch it with me?" Kelly offered, "I mean, you could keep me company and then he could take you home."

Hailey sighed. That offer seemed better than nothing, "Okay," she said.

"Great!" Kelly exclaimed, "Let's go!"

Kelly, Hailey, and Matt headed for the courtyard, and when they got there, there was already a slight crowd focusing on the dozen men in the center of the courtyard. It looked as if they were trying to figure out who was on which team. All of the people out there were juniors and seniors. In was an annual tradition, Hailey knew, that on the first day of school, seniors and juniors would compete in a game of ultimate Frisbee. Hailey didn't seem to recognize any of them, other than Matt, who was a junior. Because of seniority, the seniors made the juniors play without their shirts, so when the groups separated and the six junior guys were taking off their shirts, Hailey realized that Jake, the guy from the coffee place and from her health class, was playing as well.

When she first saw Jake at the coffee house, she noticed he had an attractive face, but didn't really think about it too much. Now, she noticed he also had the body of an athlete. As she watched him run around for the next hour, she couldn't help but wonder what else was so special about this Jake West person.

Getting her mind out of the gutter long enough to answer her cell phone, which was ringing, she moved away from the field a little so she could hear who was calling. It was her friend, Melanie, wanting to talk about their plans for the weekend. What Hailey didn't know was that the game had ended, so when Hailey was walking back to meet up with Kelly as she put her cell phone back in her purse, "Oof!" the next thing she knew, she'd run into someone, and lost balance, and therefore fell on her back.

"I'm so sorry…Hailey?" Jake asked, as he helped her to her feet.

Hailey looked at who was helping her up and realized what happened. Jake, who had yet to put his shirt on, waited for her to say something. "It's okay," she insisted, rather embarrassed. In general, she was not a clumsy person, but lately she was beginning to question her balance.

Jake grinned, "We've got to stop bumping into each other like this. Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," she said, "I guess I wasn't really paying attention to where I was going."

"Is there anything I can do to help you? Take you to the nurse or something?"

"Nope," she said, as she put her purse on her shoulder, "who won?"

Jake shrugged, "I don't think anyone was keeping score."

"Ah, well," she smiled at him, "it was fun to watch."

It was then that she spotted, from the corner of her eye, Kelly and Matt, who were walking towards her. "Hails, we're ready whenever you are," Kelly said.

"Oh, do you need a ride?" Jake asked, before he put his shirt on.

Kelly raised her eyebrow at Jake, "Do I know you from somewhere?" she asked.

Jake shrugged, "I doubt it. But Listen," he said, turning his attention back to Hailey, "your house is actually on my way home. If you want, I could give you a ride."

"Oh, no, that's…"

"A great idea!" Kelly said, "Matt and I were going to go to the Digital Bean now, anyway to work on some homework. You two are welcome to come, but I'm not sure it will be that much fun."

"I've got to get home," Jake said, "are you coming?"

Hailey sighed. Maybe this was the answer to her prayers, "Sure, I'd love to."

"Great," he said.

So he took her home.

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Coming in the next chapters---What happens in the car ride? Will he be her new chaperone? What happens in health? Is someone developing a crush on someone? That and more to come soon. Now, I must work on something else. Review if you have time.


	6. Chapter Five

I DON'T OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE! Thank you for all the reviews! I'm really glad you like this story, because, honestly, I really like writing it. I will not say right now (because I haven't completely decided…any suggestions?) if this is a Lizzie/Gordo and/or Hailey/Jake story, but I have decided that one or both of those pairings is going to be a couple. As for when Lizzie and Gordo meet up…be patient. I want the characters to have a chance to develop their own relationship friendship first. It shouldn't be too long, but it won't be right away, either.

Chapter Five

"Nice car," Hailey said, when he pressed the button to unlock the door and she opened the passenger side.

"Thanks," Jake said, "I got it last week."

"Cool," she said, and then got in and so did he. He started the car and pulled out of the parking lot, and they were on their way home. It took approximately eight minutes, including the stop signs, to get to Hailey's house from the school.

As he rode her home, Hailey realized that they were driving in silence and felt like she should say something. After all, if Jake was possibly going to take her to school every morning, she didn't want to come off as rude, or even worse, the silent type. So she interrupted the silence when they were about halfway there and started to strike up a little small talk, "So," she said, "If you don't mind my asking, why Hill Ridge?"

Jake shrugged, "Well, I guess my mom figured we needed a change and since she grew up here, it just made the most sense."

"Oh," she said. She sensed that he was keeping something from her, mostly because of the whole "my mom figured we needed a change," bit, but didn't want to make him uncomfortable. "Well, I've lived here since I was five, and I don't find Hill Ridge particularly exciting, but I do like it here. My uncle and his family grew up here."

Jake nodded. He noticed that Hailey's family seemed unconventional when he went there and was introduced to her uncle, "So you live with your uncle?"

Hailey sighed, "Yeah. My parents died when I was young and my uncle has taken care of me ever since."

"I'm…sorry," Jake said, "About your parents, I mean."

She half smiled, "It's okay. It happened over ten years ago."

"Oh."

"Besides, what my uncle and I have is kind of unique. Not only does he act as some sort of 'father figure,' but we're really close. He's almost like my best friend."

"That's cool," Jake said, thinking about his own father, "you're lucky that he cares so much about you."

Hailey looked confused, "what do you mean?"

Jake sighed heavily, trying to sort through the pain he was feeling, "My dad…never cared. That's why I'm here actually. My mom and my dad---I'm sorry. I didn't mean to tell you all of this."

"No," Hailey said, "It's cool. I won't tell anyone."

"Well," Jake said, "my parents got a divorce recently."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," she said, as if she knew what he was going through, "that must be really hard for you."

Jake shrugged, looking a little depressed, "Well, the divorce was the best thing that ever happened, actually. He treated us like crap."

"Oh," Hailey said, feeling a little awkward, but she understood, "well, I hope you like it here. If there is anything I can do to help you, just tell me."

Jake smiled and glanced at Hailey, "Thanks."

Hailey hardly noticed when they pulled into her driveway. It was when he pulled the car in park when she realized it was time to leave.

"You know," Jake said, as she started getting out of the car, "If you ever need a ride to school or anything…I live, like, two streets away."

Hailey's eyes lit up, "Really??" She didn't mean to sound so excited. She calmed down a little, "I mean, um, if you wouldn't mind?"

He shrugged, "Not at all. You're on my way to school and well, I could use the company, really."

Jake had never been so honest to anyone. He was so used to holding up a front with his friends and the people he knew. For the brief time he talked to Hailey, though, he realized how good it felt. Maybe since she at some point went through a tragedy, he felt like he could open up to her comfortably.

"Well," Hailey said, biting her lower lip, "I don't want to take advantage of this, but I really do not like the bus…if you took me to school and took me home every day, could I at least have my uncle pay you?"

"You don't have to pay."

"No, I want to."

Jake shrugged, "Well, I guess if he wants to pay me, I won't argue."

"Great!" Hailey smiled, "Uh, why don't you come inside? My uncle is here and he might want to talk to you."

Jake looked confused, "Wait…what?"

Hailey blushed, "I mean, I'm not really allowed to drive with anyone unless they trust you. Also, if he's going to pay you, he might as well know who it is he is paying."

"Um," Jake said, as he turned off the car and unbuckled his seatbelt, "Okay."

Jake got out of the car and they walked to the front porch, and Hailey let herself in, "Davie!" she called, as they walked in, "I'm home!"

"Okay!" Gordo called back, from upstairs, "I'll be there in a minute!"

Hailey smiled nervously at Jake. She wasn't sure why she was nervous—she knew Gordo would be cool with the whole thing, but something about this situation intimidated her. Maybe it was Jake. Jake was older, cute, and probably used to popularity, while she was only fifteen, popular with her friends, and didn't feel like she had as much to offer.

It felt like hours before Gordo finally came down the stairs, smiled at Hailey, and then saw Jake, "Whoa," he said, recognizing him from the day before, "hi, there."

Gordo and Jake shook hands once again, and Gordo looked at Hailey for an explanation to his presence, "Did you have another shirt of his?" He joked.

Hailey rolled her eyes, "Very funny. Actually, I was wondering if Jake could give me a ride to school everyday."

"Oh!" Gordo said, sarcastically. He looked at Jake and said, "are you sure you want to do this?"

Jake shrugged, "I don't mind. She's on my way to school."

"Well…" Gordo looked at him for a very long minute and then shook his head, "Fine, Hailey. Jake can take you to school. I trust him. I don't know why, but I do. What kind of car do you drive?"

"A Jeep Cherokee."

Gordo peeked out the window, "nice car. I used to drive one of those myself," he then turned back to Jake, "Now, I suppose I need to talk to you about paying for gas and convenience."

"Actually, sir, I don't need your money. It would be my pleasure to pick her up and drop her off."

Gordo, although surprised at the young man's refusal of money, insisted. "Nonsense! I'll be happy to pay you. What's the going rate these days, Hails? Forty dollars a week?"

Hailey nodded, "Yeah."

"No, that's not really necessary," Jake insisted, "none of this is necessary."

"Uh, Jake, I don't know about where you are from, but gas these days is really expensive," Gordo said, "besides, you might be happy you have the money for the weekend or something."

Jake sighed, "Okay, Mr. Gordon, if you insist."

Gordo smiled, "Good! Now, I'm trusting that you are a good driver and there aren't policemen out here looking for you."

"No, sir," Jake said.

"And you don't smoke, drink, or do any drugs?"

"No, sir."

"Davie!" Hailey said, giving him a look as if he was going to have to pay for this later.

"Hold on, Hailey. I want to make sure this Jake is clear of what I expect of him," Gordo said, and turned his attention back to Jake, "Unless one of you calls this house, I expect her home by four, or else I'm calling the cops. At 3:30, I'm calling your cell phone, Hails."

"Okay," Jake said.

"And I don't want Hailey to be late for school."

"Okay, Davie, you can stop trying to be a parent, here," Hailey said, getting more and more annoyed and embarrassed.

"Fine! I get it, Hails," Gordo said, "I trust Jake. The only thing I need to know now is your phone number in case I need to call you."

Jake write down his home and cell phone numbers and gave them to Hailey's uncle. They shook their hands one more time before Gordo said, "I'll see you tomorrow morning, then, Jake. It was nice meeting you again."

Jake left and Hailey hit Gordo on the arm, "Davie!" she whined, "what was all that for?"

"What?" Gordo said, failing to see why she was upset, "This is California! There are plenty of psychos around here and I'm not about to let you hang around one of them. Besides, he's older than you and could take complete advantage of you."

Hailey rolled her eyes, "You said you trusted him."

"Well, I trust a lot of people when I first meet them. That still doesn't mean I'm going to ask them questions on how responsible they are. Especially when it concerns your safety."

Hailey sighed, and then let out a frustrated "Argghh!" Then she hurried upstairs.

Gordo watched, sighed, and then stuffed Jake's numbers in his wallet, went to the living room and sat down on the couch. He didn't see anything wrong with what he just did. He liked Jake, and he thought he'd made that clear. At least he didn't ask something crazy like "what are your intentions with Hailey?" like HIS parents probably would have asked.

In the back of his head, something still bothered Gordo about this Jake West. Sure, he was a nice person, but there was something faintly familiar about him. It was as if he was supposed to have known this guy all of his life.

888

By the time Jake pulled into his own driveway, everyone else seemed to be home. He saw Andrew in the next-door neighbor's yard, talking to some girl. When he walked into the house, he saw his mom on the computer in their living room, looking at cars. "Hey," she called, "How was your first day of school?"

Jake walked to the living room, "It was fine. Who's the girl Andrew is with?"

Lizzie shrugged, "I don't know…some girl at his school. They aren't doing anything I should be worried about, are they?"

Jake laughed, "No, mom, they're just talking."

"Well, that's nice," she said, "Do you know anything about Corollas?"

Jake shrugged, "They're okay. Why? Thinking about getting a Corolla?"

"Yeah…" Lizzie said, slowly, concentrating on the screen, "you don't think silver is too tacky for a car, do you?"

"Sounds fine to me," Jake said, "I'm not the one who is going to be driving it."

Lizzie sighed, "So," she said, turning to her son an smiling, "sit down. Tell me all about your first day of school."

Jake reluctantly sat down, "Well, it was fine. I like most of my classes, I played ultimate Frisbee after school, and I think I'm going to be giving some sophomore a ride to school everyday."

"Hmm," Lizzie said, raising her eyebrow, "so you will make a little money, after all."

"Yeah," Jake said, "I guess."

"Is the sophomore male or female?"

"Female."

Lizzie raised her eyebrow again, "Really? And…what's her name?"

"Hailey."

Lizzie smiled, "Well, I'm glad you made some friends and liked your first day of school. I want to meet some of your friends and this new girlfriend or yours."

"What new girlfriend?" Jake asked, confused.

"The one you're taking to school."

"Um, she's not my girlfriend. We're friends. She lives, like, two minutes away from us."

Lizzie shrugged, "Okay. Well, girlfriend or not, she's still a friend of yours and if you are going to hang out with these people, I want to meet them eventually. Especially if her parents are paying you to be responsible for her. I don't want to get a call from this girl's mom freaking out because her daughter isn't home yet. Got it?"

Jake sighed. He knew his mother was under a lot of stress to get all these things done and the last thing he wanted was to argue with her, "Okay, mom. I'm sure you'll meet her soon."

Lizzie looked distressed as she shook her head, "I'm sorry, I know you're just trying to help this girl and make friends and you're under your own stress, but as your parent I worry. And lately, I'm worried that I haven't worried enough over the years. I don't want to make you do anything you don't want to and I certainly don't want you to feel awkward having to invite some friends over, because you don't, but…" Lizzie sighed. She knew he couldn't possibly understand what she was going through, "Grammy called and invited us…along with half of Hill Ridge…to their 40th anniversary bar-b-que two weeks from yesterday. I just don't know if I'm ready to socialize with all these people I haven't seen in over twenty years," Lizzie said and then she sighed, "I need a break from all of this."

Jake raised his eyebrow, not really knowing what to say to his mom's problem, "Well…" he started, knowing whatever he said would be the wrong answer, "Do you have to go?"

Lizzie seemed a little startled by what Jake said. "Well, I'm not sure how my own _mother_ would feel about me saying I couldn't come, seeing as she's guilted me into coming."

"Then go. I mean, how bad can it be? If anything, Andrew and I are going to be the bored ones, right?"

Lizzie shook her head, "I don't know. I'm frankly not sure if I know anything right now," she paused. She was going to go more into detail, like how Matt was coming and bringing her nieces and nephew, (who she hadn't seen in over three years) but then she realized the Jake was her sixteen year old son. She didn't want to give him the impression that she was incapable of being Super Mom, "It'll be fine," Lizzie said, attempting to sound assuring, "Part of me is looking forward to it, actually."

Jake shrugged. What else was he supposed to do? "Okay, well, I'll be in my room if you need me."

"Okay," Lizzie said, cheering up a little, "I'm glad you had a good day. I'll call you when dinner is ready."

"Okay," Jake called, as he was already halfway up the stairs.

888

"Tell me this," Hailey heard Kelly ask. They were on the phone with each other, "If you were offered two tickets to Fiji right now, who would you pick to go with you? It has to be a guy."

Hailey rolled her eyes. Sometimes she wondered how Kelly ended up being her best friend. They'd been friends for years, of course, ever since they were in the same second grade class, but they had close to nothing in common. At the same time, they had a very strong friendship. "What are we? Twelve?" Hailey asked, as she hated these random theoretical questions.

"What are you talking about? I'm asking you seriously. Who would you pick?"

Hailey sighed loudly. "I'm not answering this question, Kel."

"It would be that Jake guy right?" Hailey could almost hear her friend smirking.

"No," Hailey said, "I barely know him."

"Yeah, but he's giving you a ride home every day. You will know him. Besides, you have to admit, he's slightly hot."

Hailey was shocked, "Um, Kel, I hate to burst your bubble, and I will admit that he's…cute, but I don't want to date the guy."

"Oh, why not? You two are perfect for each other."

"Um…" Hailey started, "Well, for one, we're friends. Besides, he's probably not interested. I mean, his parents just got a divorce and he probably has some girlfriend he's talking to right now in Houston or wherever he's from and planning a trip home."

"So you've thought about him, then."

Hailey blushed. Damn. She hated when Kelly did this, "Okay, fine. I give. Realistically speaking, if I had drag some guy off to Tahiti or wherever, I guess he would be the most obvious choice. Considering my recent luck with guys, however, I'm not pushing for anything." Hailey was glad she was talking on her cell phone. She would be mortified if anyone in the house heard this conversation.

"Okay, then," Kelly said, "That's all I wanted to hear."

"Don't you dare," Hailey threatened, "tell anyone about this."

"Are you kidding?" Kelly exclaimed, "What are we? Twelve?"

888

To be continued….


	7. Chapter Six

DISCLAIMER: I DON'T OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE! Thank you for the reviews. I'm glad that people are interested in this story. I hope people continue to be interested in this story, because it's a lot of fun to write.

Chapter Six

On Tuesday… 

Jake picked up Hailey and they talked about random things before they got out of the car.

In his Spanish class, Jake's group was assigned Spanish history.

Health class only got more entertaining. Ms. Roe lectured the class on drugs and they watched a campy video while Ms. Roe sort of disappeared to the teacher's lounge.

On the way home, Jake asked Hailey if she was thirsty, and they made a detour to the Digital Bean, although they didn't stay there. They listened to college radio on the way back.

Gordo visited a community college and lectured two classes on film appreciation.

After Lizzie came home from work, she spent most of the afternoon and until about midnight engrossed in a romance novel. She read half of it before she went to sleep.

On Wednesday… 

Hailey flipped through Jake's CDs that she found in the back of the car and told him he had great music taste.

In chemistry, Jake overheard some girls at the table behind him talk about homecoming and who they were going with that Saturday. The thought of asking Hailey, as a friend, of course, crossed his mind. Who else would he go with?

Kelly asked Hailey how everything was going with them during lunch, as Jake was sitting with a group of junior guys a few tables away, and walked by, saying "hey" to her as he passed to throw his lunch away.

In health class, they talked about stimulants. Ms. Roe shared some stories she'd heard over the years and gave them a packet to read.

Gordo read through a few scripts to help him decide which project he would take on after he finished with an interpretation of the life of Napoleon, which would end in about a year.

Lizzie continued to read the rest of the romance novel that afternoon and into the night. She asked Jake if he could pick up a pizza and she locked herself in her room and finished the romance novel. She finished at around midnight, and spent another good thirty minutes, crying in bed silently. Why couldn't her life be like Delilah, from the book she just finished? When would she find her Maxwell? Would she ever find love again?

On Thursday… 

Hailey and Jake talked about health class and how stupid it was. Hailey shared with him some of the rumors she'd heard about Ms. Roe. AKA…she was having an affair with the football coach last year and all this other random stuff.

In health class, they talked about narcotics. Ms. Roe told the class that there would be a quiz the next day.

On their way home, Hailey and Jake were listening to the college radio in the background while they were going on about how dumb some classes are in high school. Then, Hailey turned the radio up a little and got excited because her all-time favorite song was playing. Jake agreed that the song was awesome.

Hailey talked to Kelly that afternoon on the phone, trying to convince Kelly to drop this whole Jake thing because nothing was going to happen.

Jake saw Andrew hanging out with that girl again, as he had been since Monday.

On his way from a gruesome meeting with some stubborn writers late that afternoon, Gordo was at a red light when this truck pulled next to him. Glancing over, he was caught by surprise when he was a woman sitting up there, looking a little distressed. Before he could take in the familiarity of the woman, the light turned green and the woman was off.

After fixing a dinner, Lizzie spent a good deal of the night organizing her closet.

Because he had nothing better to do, Jake decided to make Hailey a CD on his computer.

And then Friday rolled around… 

Jake presented Hailey with the CD. Hailey seemed surprised, but not in a bad way. He'd decided, with the intention of telling no one, as he hadn't met enough people, that Hailey was his new favorite person. Not only was she a great person, but he also couldn't help but having developed a small crush on her over the past few days. The car ride on the way to school, felt a little different. Hailey sat there silently, looking like she was thinking hard about something and Jake sat there wondering what Hailey was thinking about.

And Hailey was thinking about him. Well, what Kelly had said about him the day before, anyway. She'd never met a guy quite like Jake and she usually didn't go for his type. He was a nice guy, seemingly innocent and a classic guy to bring home to parents. But then again, he wasn't overly confident, seemed to enjoy her company, was decent looking, smart, had good taste in music, and everything all the other people she tried dating in the past were not.

Sure, she was only fifteen. She wasn't thinking about marring the guy or anything, but if he was interested…

Who was she kidding? He wasn't interested in her. She said he made the CD because he was bored. Jake was shy, and even if he was interested in anyone, he probably wouldn't do anything about it because he was new to Hill Ridge. It wasn't like he elaborately planned this or something. Besides, he was a junior and this truthfully intimidated her a little. She wasn't sure why, but he just looked like he was bound to be popular in a few months.

They couldn't have arrived to school a minute later. Hailey thanked him for the ride, mumbled something about paying him later, and walked away. Jake watched, wondering what was going on.

"Tough love, isn't it?" A familiar voice asked, behind Jake. Jake looked a little startled.

"Will!" he exclaimed, and turned around to greet his friend, "Hey!"

"Hey," Will said, "I didn't know you knew Hailey Isaacson."

Jake raised his eyebrow, "You know her?"

Will shrugged, "Well, not in an intimidate way, but I know of her. She made a film last year in media class that was entered into this state competition. I've always wanted to talk to her, but she always seemed so unapproachable. Obviously, she doesn't intimidate you, though. Are you going out with her or just friends?"

"Just friends."

"Well, that's cool. She seems like a nice person."

Will and Jake walked to the school building together.

In the meantime, Hailey walked to Kelly, who was sitting with some of her friends on the floor by her locker. "Hey," Kelly said, sleepily waving.

"Hi," Hailey said, as she dropped her book bag to the side and slid down to sit next to Kelly.

Kelly pointed to the CD in Hailey's hand, "What's that?"

"Oh, this?" Hailey asked. She'd meant to put it in her bag, but forgot, "It's just a CD Jake made me."

Kelly raised her eyebrows, "Jake made you a CD?"

"Yep."

"Good. I'm now one hundred percent sure that he likes you."

"WHAT??"

"You should ask him to homecoming."

"Are you out of your mind??"

Kelly shook her head, "Nope. Hey! You should ask him to the football game tonight. We could have some sort of double date or something."

"I'm not going to the game tonight!"

"Why not? You need to come to the game tonight. Then, you need to come tomorrow and invite Jake."

Hailey shook her head, "I don't think that's going to be the way it will work."

"Oh, why not? You have, like, no school spirit, Hails."

Hailey shrugged, "Oh, well. I'll get over it."

"Are you ever going to date again?"

"Um, can we not talk about this right now?"

"Why not? I'm going to bug you until you do something about this little dry spell of yours."

Hailey blushed, "Um, Kelly?"

"No, listen to me, Hailey! I'm sorry that you haven't actually liked a guy—stop poking me—in like, a year, but this has got to stop. Either you ask that guy or I will ask him for you."

Hailey looked aggravated, "Kelly! Shut up! And look behind you, because he's, like, six feet away and he's within hearing distance," she hissed.

Kelly rolled her eyes and turned around, "So? There is like no way he could have heard what I said, anyway. He's talking to one of Matt's friends, Will."

"So? I still don't want to go through this again. Let's talk about something else."

Kelly gave in and talked about something else.

The rest of the day went by fairly normal. Kelly seemed a little mad at Hailey, but got over it by lunch.

Health class was interesting, as always. Ms. Roe had them watch another video on drugs and they had a small discussion about drugs.

That afternoon, Hailey figured if Jake had heard anything that morning, he would have been more awkward because he was definitely not acting any different as he went on to complain about math and how, after a certain point, it should be an elective.

On the other hand, if he had heard something, maybe he was just avoiding it because he didn't want to say anything mean to her.

After he dropped Hailey off, Jake went home. When he pulled into the driveway and caught his brother and this mysterious neighbor pull away quickly when they saw him, he rolled his eyes. Jake had always thought Andrew was one weird kid. Why any girl would ever be attracted to Andrew was beyond his comprehension, but he didn't say anything when he passed them and went inside his house.

Will had asked Jake if he wanted to go to the football game that night just to hang out and Jake said he would stay for a little bit. He had actually thought about asking Hailey if she needed a ride there, but figured she might get the wrong impression. At his old school, when someone went with someone to the homecoming game, it was a date. Not that he wouldn't mind asking her out, but he wasn't sure he wanted to take that chance quite yet.

After spending the afternoon talking to people online and watching a movie on TV, Jake headed out after dinner. The game had already started, but he didn't really care.

888

"I can't believe you dragged me here!" Hailey exclaimed as they got out of Matt's car.

"It's Homecoming! You have to go!" Kelly argued, "Besides, don't you want to spend time with your friends?"

"But I saw you all week!" Hailey whined. She crossed her arms and pouted, "I need new friends."

"No, what you really need is a new uncle. He let you go out of the house wearing THAT?"

Hailey looked down at her wardrobe of sweatpants and a tank top covered by an old, black fleece jacket, "You didn't give me enough time to change! Between you pushing me out the door and Uncle David's shoving a twenty in my face and insisting that I go with you and have some fun, you didn't give me the chance to do anything!"

Kelly rolled her eyes as they walked toward the field, "well, I'm not apologizing for doing you a favor. You spend way too much time with your family and even your uncle agrees with me that you need to get out more."

Hailey fumed, "What are you talking about? Davie thought this was what I wanted to do. If he's known that I would have rather stayed home, he would have let me."

"Okay!" Matt said, intervening, "Girls, calm down! I did not agree to go to this with two girls yelling at each other! Now that we're here, why don't we go find a seat and enjoy ourselves? Hailey, if you really don't want to be here, you're welcome to find a ride home. Kelly, if you can't leave Hailey alone, you will be finding a ride home. Got it?" he sighed, "Are you ready to go in?"

Kelly sighed, "Yeah." Hailey nodded her head, although she still looked annoyed. This was the last place she wanted to be tonight.

A half an hour later, Hailey decided it wasn't so bad. Kelly and Matt were ignoring her, and this gave her time to think about a few things. A few of her other friends stopped by to talk to her, but other than that, she sat there thinking about random things, like listening to the CD Jake had given her and making him a CD and what she would put on it.

By the middle of the third quarter, she was bored, however. Her school was beating the other school by almost thirty points and Hailey really didn't want to be there anymore.

After telling Kelly that she was going to call her uncle and have him pick her up, she excused herself to get out of the bleachers and into the parking lot, so she could hear herself call Davie.

Hailey had just reached the parking lot and was pulling out her cell when someone said, "Hailey?"

Startled, Hailey looked to the right of her, and about twenty feet away, she saw Jake, "Jake?" she said, walking toward him, "hey."

"Are you going home?"

"Yeah, I'm calling it a night. I'm tired and tomorrow's a pretty big day."

"Oh, you're going to the dance?" Jake asked.

"No…I don't think I am," Hailey said, "I meant that I was going to catch up on some sleep and maybe do some shopping or something."

"Ahh," Jake said, and he looked at Hailey, "Do you need a ride? I'm going home."

"Um, sure," Hailey said, and she smiled, "I would love for you to give me a ride."

"Okay, well my car is over here," he said, and she followed as he walked to his car, which was on the other side of the parking lot.

"So," he said, as he got in his Jeep and she got in the passenger side, "You couldn't stay awake for the rest of the game, huh?"

Hailey sighed as she put her seatbelt on, "I hate football."

Jake chuckled, "Yeah, me too."

He pulled out and took her home. It seemed different when he drove her at night, though. They didn't play music or talk about school. Instead, they drove in comfortable silence. There was something sort of romantic about the whole thing, only listening to the night sounds and hearing crickets chirp and dogs bark.

Eight minutes later, when he pulled into her driveway, he put the car on park and said, "Well, this is it. I guess I'll see you Monday morning."

Hailey started to unbuckle her seatbelt and let herself out, but then she realized it was only nine o'clock. Feeling like this was a harmless idea, she said, "Hey, It's only nine. I'm not really going to bed any time soon. Would you like to come in and watch a movie or something?"

"Um, sure," he said, surprised by the invitation. He turned off his car and they got out of the car, "What movie were you going to watch."

"Well," Hailey said, as they walked to his front door, "We have over a thousand movies, so I'll let you decide."

"Wow! That's a lot of movies."

"Yeah, well, that's what you get when you have a director in the family."

Before she had any chance to further explain, she opened the door and let him in. Gordo was sitting in the living room with his parents, and when he saw Jake and Hailey, he excused himself to find out what was going on.

"You're back?" Gordo asked.

"Yeah," Hailey said, "the football game was boring and Jake offered to give me a ride home. Since its still early, I asked him if he wanted to come in and watch a movie. Is that okay with you?"

Gordo shrugged, "It's fine with me. I don't want him staying here too late, but a couple of hours shouldn't hurt. Are your parents okay with it?"

"I'll call my mom in a minute. She'll be fine."

"Okay," Gordo said, approving of the plan, "what movie were you thinking about watching?"

Hailey shrugged, "We haven't gotten that far yet. We can use the basement, right?"

"Yeah. That's fine."

"Great," Hailey said, as she lead Jake to the basement.

Gordo shrugged and went back to the living room with his parents.

"Who was that young man?" Roberta asked.

"One of Hailey's friends from school. He's the one that gives Hailey rides to school."

"Ohh. He seems nice," Roberta said.

Gordo shrugged, "Yeah, he's not too bad."

Jake looked over the massive collection of movies that filled up an entire room in the basement. "Wow," he said, "this is a lot of movies. Do you ever watch these movies more than once?"

Hailey smiled, "Some of them. What would you like to watch?"

"Um," he said, pulling out the first thing he saw, "how about this one?"

Hailey shrugged, "Okay," she took the movie from him and led him into the room with the theatre, turned on the lights, and turned on the movie.

Both of them sat on the couch across from the screen. Jake had picked a movie that was made a few years ago.

About half an hour into the movie, however, neither of them was doing a good job paying attention to the movie. Unclear of how the whole thing started, they got into a small pillow fight and were too busy laughing at each other to pay attention to the actual movie.

All the sudden, after the laughter subsided, it got quiet. Jake and Hailey looked at each other and neither of them moved. Debating if he should take this opportunity to try and kiss her, he swallowed nervously.

Everything was perfect. After a few seconds, he decided it was worth a shot and he started leaning in. Just as Hailey figured out what Jake was about to do, she leaned in as well.

They were pretty close to each other when they heard footsteps on the stairs, which caused them to suddenly pull back. They were both watching the movie when Gordo appeared with a bowl of popcorn, "I thought you might need a snack."

Hailey knew this wasn't the only reason Davie was down there. She knew that it was only an excuse to make sure they weren't doing anything they weren't supposed to be doing. Gordo set the popcorn back, but before heading back upstairs, said, "Everyone else is going to bed. Try not to be too loud when you go back upstairs."

"Okay," Hailey nodded.

Gordo went back upstairs and Jake and Hailey watched the rest of the movie in silence, each pondering what might have happened if Gordo hadn't shown up then.

When the movie was over and it was time for Jake to leave, Hailey walked him to the door. As they were saying their goodbyes, Jake thought, "What the heck…if this was any other girl I would kiss her. What makes Hailey an exception?" and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I had a really good time, Hailey. I'll see you on Monday. Call me if you need a ride anywhere." Jake turned and walked toward his car, smiling. He could tell by the look on Hailey's face that he made the right choice. Hailey looked shocked, but not disappointed as he walked away.

Maybe Jake wasn't as shy as Hailey thought, after all…

888

Eh…I figured why beat around the bush with these two? They're young, honest, and it's time to focus on another pair if you ask me.


	8. Chapter Seven

I DO NOT OWN LIZZIE MCGUIRE! Again, thank you for the reviews. I'm glad that you like the story so far. Keep reading!

Chapter Seven

The next Monday morning, Gordo sat in his office at home, talking to his financial advisor, Joseph, who sat on the other side of the desk. Gordo played with a vintage camera while Joseph was going through some random numbers that Gordo didn't care to be paying attention to at all. He sighed. The past forty -eight hours had been somewhat crazy for him, although he couldn't explain why they were crazy.

For one thing, that kid, Jake, had asked Hailey out. Just as he was beginning to like the kid, too. Hailey told him on Saturday afternoon that she wasn't going to homecoming. Instead, she was going to go see a movie with Jake. He wasn't sure why he assumed their relationship was innocent. Jake seemed harmless enough. When he walked out on the porch to give Jake his money for the week and saw them kissing, he didn't know what to think. If Hailey had told him that it was just a friendly kiss, he probably would have believed her. But Hailey revealed to him the next day, or yesterday, what was going on. His precious niece and the new kid were dating.

This shouldn't have bothered him. He should have seen it coming, but at the same time, for reasons Gordo couldn't even begin to explain, this bothered him. Maybe it was the fact that he caught them kissing. Hailey had been on dates before with guys, but he'd never seen Hailey kiss a guy. Hailey had also never been on dates where one of them could drive, either.

For some reason, anyway, this distracted Gordo. Hailey was growing up right before his eyes, but Gordo hadn't made any drastic changes to his personal and social life for years. Certainly not since Hailey came, anyway. As Joseph rattled out more numbers, Gordo put the camera down and tried to concentrate on what Joe was saying. Gordo sighed again, trying not to seem too bored. He hated these meetings.

Joseph must have noticed this, because he stopped reading, looked up at his client and said, "Is something wrong, David?"

"What?" he asked, then when he saw the look on Joe's face, he realized that he probably seemed less interested than usual, "Oh, no, I'm sorry. I just have a lot on my mind. Please, continue."

"Uh-huh," Joseph said, but he didn't go back to the papers. In fact, he set them on the desk and took off his glasses, "David, I've known you for over a decade. I've been handling your money for just as long. In fact, I don't mean to be rude and don't take this the wrong way, but I often feel like I am the closest thing you have to a friend ho is your age. Am I wrong?"

Gordo frowned. This man knew him better than anyone, didn't he?

Joseph cleared his throat, "You are also a walking contradiction to most people. You are the happiest person I've ever met at your age, and yet you're also the loneliest person. You are the coolest bachelor I've heard of, but you don't seem to have a real social life. Does this ever bother you?"

Gordo didn't know what to say. Every once in a while, Joe would bring this up, and Gordo never thought much of it. Gordo was happy in his own way and loved his life. He thought it was that simple. Lately, though, it seemed a lot more complicated. Gordo couldn't help but feel like there was something missing in his life…like a part of his heart wanted a completely different life. But was he about to reveal any of this to Joe? Hell no.

"I'm fine," he insisted, "other than a little stressed, I'm fine."

"Have you ever thought about taking a break for a few months?"

"What? You mean, like going on sabbatical? I don't need that."

"Actually," Jo said, and he stood up and gathered his papers, "I think that's exactly what you need. I'm worried about you, David. So are your parents," he said, and he headed for the door, "do yourself a favor and concentrate a little more on your social life."

Gordo stood up and looked at Joe, confused, "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Joe said, opening the door to let himself out, "go on a date or two. I'll see you next month." Joe let himself out.

Gordo shook his head to clear his mind. Did that really just happen? Did his financial advisor really just tell him to date? And since when did his parents worry about this?

Gordo sat back down and picked up the camera he was fumbling with minutes before. Before he could give much thought to what Joseph said, he got back to work. This was his life and he would do whatever he wanted to do with it.

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After spending the majority of her lunch break trying to deal with caterers for the party for her parents, Lizzie hung up the phone and felt like screaming. Then, she reached for her bagel under her desk and barely got one bite into it before the phone rang. It was her mother, Jo.

"Hey," Lizzie said, "I just got off the phone with the catering company. They'll be at your house at two to set up."

"Great," Jo said, "but that's not while I called."

"Oh?" Lizzie asked.

"Lizzie? What are you doing on Friday night?"

Last time Lizzie checked, nothing. "I don't know, mom. Why?"

"Well," Jo started, "what would you say if I invited the boys over here for the night to give you a break?"

"I don't need a break, mom. The boys are fine."

"Lizzie, we all need breaks at some time in our life," Jo paused, "Do you remember that Parish boy?"

"No…" Lizzie said, "I don't remember anyone with the last name 'Parish'."

"It was one of Matt's friends growing up. His name is John."

"Okay…"

"Well, anyway, I play bridge with Jackie Parish, and she recently told us that John's divorce is final and he's coming to stay in Hill Ridge for a while."

"Mom…" Lizzie said, having a feeling that she wasn't going to like what her mom was about to suggest, "what is your point?"

"Well, I think it might be nice if the two of you got together on Friday night and had some sort of a date."

"MOM!" Lizzie almost yelled, "with Matt's friend?"

"Honey, he's thirty-five. He's only three years younger than you. He has two children, just like you, except for they are girls."

"Mom, no! I'm not doing this."

"Why not?"

"I'm not…ready." Okay, well, maybe she was ready to meet new people, but the last thing Lizzie wanted was to be set up by her mother.

"Lizzie, please," her mother said, "He's a really nice guy."

Lizzie sighed. Maybe her mom wasn't so out of line to suggest dating. Maybe she needed some sort of social experience to confirm her sanity. Would she be so crazy to agree to this? "Fine," she said, finally, "I'll go."

"Oh, honey!" Jo exclaimed, "I knew you were strong. Just tell the boys to come here straight from school. That will give you some time to get ready and be home as late as you want to come home."

"The boys don't have to stay with you. I trust them to be here for a couple of hours."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm positive. Jake will probably be going out on Friday, anyway, and Andrew will probably want to be dropped off at the movies, anyway."

Jo said she would have John call her and then after saying goodbye, they hung up. Lizzie couldn't believe she just agreed to go on a date. She shrugged, finished her bagel, and went back to work.

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Wednesday during lunch, Hailey called home and told her Uncle Howard that after school, she was going to go with the recycling club into the city and clean up the park. He told her to pass the information onto Uncle David, and that she wouldn't be home until around eight.

Meanwhile, Jake text messaged his mom about recycling club, figuring this was enough to ensure that she wouldn't be worried.

The bus left right after school and the person in charge asked that they leave all of their belongings at school so they wouldn't have to worry about them getting stolen. Jake and Hailey, along with about thirty other individuals, were off to the city without their cell phones or any contact information. They didn't know that an hour later, their parents would be freaking out.

It all started when Gordo had just gotten home after spending the afternoon at the library, researching some information for his upcoming movie. Right as he got home, his parents were leaving, announcing that they were going to a funeral and then a dinner party and wouldn't be back for dinner. Howard forgot to relay the message about Hailey and the recycling club.

At three-thirty, Gordo tried calling Hailey on her phone. When she didn't pick up, he figured she had forgotten to turn in on after school and decided not to worry about her yet.

At four, Gordo tried her again, but she didn't answer. Maybe they got tied up at the Digital Bean, or something…

At four-thirty, he began to worry. He called her again, left a message for her to call him, and decided to try Jake's phone number as well. His cell phone was off as well. Then, he remembered that Jake left him with some phone numbers, so he reached in his back pocket and found Jake's home number. He called and no one picked up. Here wasn't even a messaging service.

Five minutes later, he called Jake's house again. He didn't like worrying, especially since most of him felt like there was nothing to worry about. He just needed some sort of assurance. This time, when he called, someone picked up. It was a male voice, but it didn't sound like an adult, "Hello?" he said.

"Um, Hi," Gordo asked, feeling a little awkward, "Are you Jake's brother?"

"Yes sir."

"Is Jake at home?"

"No, sir."

Okay, maybe something was wrong, after all. After sighing loudly, Gordo spoke again, "Is one of your parents home?"

"My mom just walked into the door."

"Can I talk to her?"

"Yes, sir. Hold on," the guy said, and after he heard muffled voices talking to one another, he heard a woman's voice, "hello?"

Gordo cleared his throat, "Hi, Mrs. West?"

On the other line, there was a pause, "Who is this?"

Funny, he thought, her accent wasn't southern at all. "I am Hailey Isaacson's uncle, her guardian. Hailey is a …friend of Jake's." Gordo wasn't sure how much Mrs. West knew about Hailey.

There was another long pause and Gordo couldn't figure out what was going on, "Oh," she finally said, "Is there a problem?"

"Jake isn't there is he?"

"No, I don't think he is here."

"And Hailey isn't there, either, is she?"

"No, I'm sorry. I only met Hailey a couple of days ago. She's a sweet girl…"

Gordo cut her off, "Do you know where they could be?"

"No, I'm sorry. I just got in."

"So Jake didn't call you?"

"No."

Gordo sighed, "I don't know where Hailey is, either, but I have a feeling they are together."

There was another pause, "Have you called the police?"

"No, I don't think this is a concern for the police just yet, but I would like to know where she is so I can stop worrying."

Lizzie sighed, "Maybe we should meet up and put our heads together and start searching. There has to be some sort of an explanation for this," she paused yet again, "Where do you live?"

"No, I'll come over to your house. You're new in town and I don't want to have to worry about you getting lost." He didn't mean to sound rude, but he didn't have time to think about manners, "Where do you live?"

The woman told Gordo where he lived and he said he would be over in a few minutes.

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After Lizzie hung the phone up, she decided to try and call Jake. Like Hailey's uncle, she didn't think there was a reason to call the police quite yet, but she was worried about her son. She trusted him to be responsible with a car and she would never forgive herself if there were some sort of car accident or something else.

Three minutes later, the doorbell rang. When Lizzie opened the door, she hardly expected to see the face that she saw staring back at her. For a moment, she studied his face before it finally clicked, "Gordo?" she said, not moving to let him in.

Gordo stared back at her as his heart stopped as he saw his old best friend looking at him and waiting, "Lizzie?"

Suddenly, something clicked. Jake's accent…Jake West…coming from Texas. He had no idea what to say.

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To be continued soon…actually, I cut this chapter so I could leave you hanging a little bit. Also, I need to change some things with the part I cut, so it shouldn't be too long until I come up with chapter eight.


	9. Chapter Eight

A/N: Well, obviously, I meant to get this chapter out sooner than now, but I guess I should have known that I couldn't be trusted with the time frames that I give. Forgive me. Thank you for all the reviews.

Chapter Eight

Lizzie cleared her throat, trying to focus on the problem at hand, "I didn't know you were Hailey's uncle."

"Well, I am," he said, and she noticed that he didn't seem all that happy to see her.

"Actually, Gordo, I didn't even realize you still lived here."

Gordo looked surprised. He was the one who never moved. He didn't really feel like getting into it right now, though. He had other things to do. "Well, I do."

"Well," Lizzie said, opening the door to let him in, "come on in. There has to be some explanation as to where our children are."

Before he walked in, he studied Lizzie. In almost twenty years, she looked almost the same. She looked a little more filled out and looked more mature, but other than that, he could pick her out from anywhere. He stepped in and noted that she seemed uncomfortable at his staring. Lizzie led him to the living room and she offered for him to take a seat. Andrew was sitting at the desk and playing on the computer, "Andrew," she said, "Andrew, this is my… friend, David Gordon. Gordo, this is my other son, Andrew."

Andrew smiled and went back to the computer. "Can I get you anything to drink?" Lizzie offered. She hated uncomfortable silence.

"No, thanks."

Lizzie sat across from him, visibly uncomfortable. What do you say to someone you haven't seen in almost two decades and when you saw him last, you didn't end on good terms? "Well," she said, "I tried Jake on his cell phone and it doesn't appear to be on. I take it you tried Hailey on her cell phone?"

"Of course," he said, again sort of rudely.

"Well, there has to be some sort of logical explanation for all of this. I know Jake is a good kid and it isn't like him to not call before he does something, so there has to be…some explanation." Okay, she didn't know what to say. It was hard to concentrate on the matter at hand when Gordo's dark eyes glared back at her as if he was still upset with her.

"Well, Hailey is supposed to call me if she isn't going to be home by four, and its after five now."

"Maybe they forgot to turn their cell phones off after school," Lizzie suggested.

Gordo shrugged, "That's a possibility. In fact, I hope that that's the case, but I'm still worried. I don't know where they could be. They could be in a dark alley for all I know."

Lizzie felt insulted. Was Gordo implying that her son was some sort of …rapist or something? "No, there has to be some sort of easier explanation. Maybe we should check the school or the Digital Bean or something."

Gordo got up, glad that he had an excuse not to sit around and "chat." "Fine. You stay here and call me if they show up."

"No!" Lizzie said, "I'm going with you!" she sighed, "That way, if we find them together, we'll both know exactly what is going on." Truthfully, Lizzie was a little worried if Gordo found them, he would be tempted to hurt Jake or blame Jake, and he didn't think that was fair to Jake.

Gordo mentally rolled his eyes, wishing all of this just didn't happen. "Fine."

Lizzie turned to Andrew, "Andrew, call me on my cell phone if one of them shows up."

"Okay," he said, not looking up from the computer.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here and make sure they don't come back?" Gordo asked, hoping she would change her mind. He didn't want to be rude, but he also didn't want to deal with any added stress.

"No, I need to go," Lizzie said, although she didn't particularly want to go, "Andrew will call me if Jake comes home."

Lizzie followed Gordo to his car and got in to the passenger side, "You don't have to go, you know," he reminded, giving one last hope of her backing out.

"Yes, I do. I'm just as worried as you are about Jake and Hailey."

Gordo rolled his eyes, however, this time, it wasn't mentally, "Fine, let's go to the Digital Bean first."

"Okay," Lizzie said, "and then maybe we should check the school."

Gordo mumbled something as he started the car, but Lizzie didn't hear what he said. He backed out of the driveway and headed for the Digital Bean.

Silence lingered in the air for the two ex best friends. The most Lizzie thought about it, the more she wanted to ask him. Lizzie was always social and very curious about other people's lives. She hadn't really thought about Gordo lately. She assumed, since she knew he was a director, that he lived in either New York or LA. Certainly not Hill Ridge. She was surprised her mom hadn't said anything about him. Certainly Jo McGuire knew that Gordo was still in town. She glanced over at the older version of the Gordo she used to be in love with. Age seemed to do him well. He still had curly, dark hair, and there was still that boyish charm he exuded when they were younger. He was wearing some worn jeans and a t-shirt, and there was something about his face that told Lizzie that he'd had a long day. She assumed he had many long days, as he obviously worked hard with his career and had to take care of at least one person.

When Lizzie met Hailey the day before, Hailey had mentioned something about being an only child. She wondered if Gordo had any children of his own. She knew he wasn't married, but she could almost see him as the type of guy who had a girlfriend who was at least ten years younger than him and he could have children with her.

So she let her mind wander a little. Nothing was wrong with being curious. She was a little embarrassed to admit that she was even thinking about the way Gordo looked, but it almost served as a distraction. It made her forget that they left on excruciatingly brutal terms. It made her forget how much she was supposed to hate the man sitting next to her. It almost made her forget that her main concern was supposed to be their children right now.

After what seemed like hours of silence in the car, they finally arrived at the Digital Bean and Lizzie started to get out of the car, "You stay here," Gordo grumbled, undoing his own seatbelt, "Come get me if one of them calls."

Lizzie looked around the parking lot for Jake's Jeep. Lizzie was sure Gordo only wanted her to stay in the car because it meant that they wouldn't have to be together. As immature as it sounded, she could hardly blame him. It wasn't like she wanted the extra tension. She thought about bringing up the fact that the Jeep wasn't there, but then thought better of it, because that didn't necessarily mean anything. To tell the truth, Lizzie wasn't too worried about Jake. Sure, she'd talk to him when he got home about it, but Jake was an all-around responsible teenager who was probably handing somewhere and lost track of the time. She didn't want to play the "Jake is an angel" card to Gordo if she would have to stick her foot into her mouth later.

A few minutes later, though, as Lizzie suspected, Gordo returned empty-handed. When he got back into the car, he said, "I asked some of the kids in there, but none of them seemed to know anything," he hit the steering wheel with his hand, "Dammit! I've never felt this…frustrated. Where the hell could they be?" he glanced over at her, "and how the hell can you stay so calm about this? If anything has happened to Hailey, you'll be hearing from my lawyer." Gordo leaned his head on his hands at the steering wheel and looked down.

"Gordo…"

"It's David," he mumbled.

Caught a little off guard, Lizzie blinked, "Excuse me?"

"I don't go by 'Gordo' anymore. My name is David."

"Oh," Lizzie said, "Well, then…David, I understand why you are angry, but before we go on with this search, answer this for me: are you really this upset about Hailey and Jake? Or is it because of me?"

Gordo looked at Lizzie and chuckled, although it was apparent that he didn't find this amusing, "Don't flatter yourself, Mrs. West; Hailey means the world to me and if something actually did happen to her…I don't even want to think about it," Gordo paused for a minute, sinking in what he just said. Lizzie was right about his overreaction. He sighed, "However, I have a strong feeling that this was some miscommunication and that both of them are fine. I like Jake and I trust him with Hailey. I'll just feel a lot better when I find her."

Lizzie mentally praised herself for at least being able to do something right about raising Jake and Andrew. "I'll feel a lot better, too," Lizzie said, "Jake is my son. That being said, I just want to make sure you aren't angry because Jake is my son because frankly, I was caught a little off guard when I learned that Hailey is your…well, you are Hailey's guardian."

Gordo shook his head in disbelief, "Yeah, well, I didn't expect to see you, either."

"Well..." Lizzie bit her bottom lip, "maybe we can catch up and deal with the shock later, but now we should head on over to the school."

Gordo rolled his eyes and started the car…

…Ten minutes later, after Lizzie saw Jake's car, Lizzie and Gordo walked into the main offices of the school, "Excuse me," Lizzie said, when she saw a woman working at a desk, "do you know if there are any students still here?"

"There might be some in the library, but that's going to close at six. Is there something I can help you with?" the woman answered.

"I'm looking for my son and he's looking for his niece," Lizzie explained calmly.

"Oh, well, I think the recycling club went on a field trip today and they'll be home later. Could they be there?"

"They could be," Lizzie said, "I mean, that would make sense. Is there a list or something?"

"No, but they were instructed to leave their stuff in the science room. Would you like to check and see if you see their stuff?"

"Where is the room?" Gordo asked, as he walked away from the reception desk.

"It's the second door around the corner to the left."

"Okay, thanks," Lizzie said and they headed for that direction.

Sure enough, Jake's and Hailey's stuff was in that room along with a lot of other people's stuff. "I am going to strangle that girl when I get home," Gordo mumbled.

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By eight o'clock that night everyone was home. Gordo had prepared to give Hailey a lecture, but right as he was about to exchange words, his parents walked in and one of them asked, "Oh, Hailey, how was the recycling thing?"

Oops.

When Jake got home, he explained that he sent her a text message on her cell phone. Lizzie checked, and sure enough, the text message was right there.

Hmm…

So, the moral of that day was that teenagers aren't always the ones that make mistakes.

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Now that Gordo knew about Lizzie, he didn't know what to do about it. He couldn't stop thinking about her for the next few days. Everything happened so long ago and here they were not speaking to each other. All this did was remind Gordo of how stupid he was all those years ago with what he said.

And now that Lizzie knew that Gordo was still in town, it made her all the more nervous. Her divorce proved that he was right about her ex-husband and she was ashamed to even face Gordo again.

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What would happen next? When would the two ex-friends see each other again and what would happen when they did? All of that would only be determined when they saw each other at the McGuire anniversary party.


	10. Chapter Nine

A/N: Again, thank you for the reviews. Just to clarify, Jake and Hailey are not an established couple, but they do go out. If that confuses you, wait until the story says something, but I don't want you to thing that these kids are having a total snogfest with each other every afternoon...because they aren't.

Chapter Nine

Gordo kept himself occupied for the rest of the week. When his parents mentioned the McGuire's anniversary, Gordo ultimately decided that he needed to appear mature about this situation. The truth was he couldn't ignore Lizzie's existence. She was still every bit as beautiful as she was they day he'd last seen her. That fact, which he hoped to get over soon, plagued him. Before, Gordo was all but embracing the fact that he'd managed to avoid women for the past several years…but then when he saw her again, that meant nothing. If it weren't for their shady past, he was positive he would have asked her out.

What perplexed him even more was Jake. Jake had a good head on his shoulders and was very trustworthy, and Gordo would have never guessed in a thousand years that he was Lizzie's son. It made sense, though. He had her eyes. In his youth, Gordo had decided that Lizzie McGuire had eyes that could look innocent when desired and yet look every bit as fierce when needed. He didn't notice them on Jake at first, but when he dropped Hailey off on Wednesday, he saw the eyes. As Hailey's guardian, this scared him.

His parents had decided to leave for the barbeque early and Hailey had left earlier that morning to help with decorations. After Gordo dealt with a few business related things that morning, Gordo headed for the party. He was nervous. He didn't know what kind of reaction to expect from Lizzie. He doubted she knew he was going to show up, but then figured that Hailey had probably mentioned something about it.

That was another thing. Gordo hadn't told Hailey about his past with Lizzie. With a combination of stress, nervousness, and lack of finding a good time for this discussion, Gordo avoided this. Since Hailey hadn't asked about it, he figured Lizzie hadn't told Jake about it.

When he arrived, he had to park all the way down the street. The party was so big that Gordo was surprised that they all seemed to fit in the backyard and patio area. He recognized some of the faces, but they all were talking to each other.

Then he spotted her. There she was, carrying a tray of some type of food, smiling and chatting with other people. She looked happy and when it looked like she might have glanced in his direction, he ducked and turned, heading over to the drink table and pouring himself a cup of Coke. He was reaching for a napkin when a voice behind him said, "Davie?"

Gordo turned, facing his niece and Jake, "Hmm?" he asked, taking a sip of his drink.

"Um, is it okay with you if after this is over, I help Mrs. West and Jake's grandparents clean up and then go to the Digital Bean with Jake?"

"Um," Gordo said, slightly distracted in his search for Lizzie, "Sure. Just be home at a reasonable hour and take your cell phone with you."

Hailey shrugged, "Okay, I should be home for dinner." Hailey disappeared and Gordo remained where he was. He didn't feel like socializing, but he felt slightly out of place. Over the past few days, Gordo had concluded that if he had to have a confrontation with Lizzie, he wanted peace. Sure, he wasn't really looking forward to a confrontation…but if their children kept things up, it was inevitable.

In fact, in case Hailey and Jake ever got suspicious, it would probably help if they made their peace sooner than later. But all things considered, Gordo was ultimately perplexed by the situation.

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Lizzie didn't know that he was going to be there. She completely forgot to worry about that, even though she couldn't stop thinking about Gordo. That alone confused her. Here she was, Lizzie McGuire, all caught up in her feelings about her friend from the past. She never thought she would see him and she hadn't given a significant amount of time prior to their encounter about him, but now it was hard to keep her mind off of him. She felt thirteen again, mostly because she couldn't decide how she felt about him.

What confused her the most about her recent feelings was the fact that Gordo hadn't seemed to change that much. He was always somewhat attractive, charming, and nice. His stardom hadn't made him pigheaded. He was always mature. The only difference was that he was taking care of Hailey. He probably had a girlfriend or maybe he was even married. Hailey had never said much about him and surely it would have been inappropriate to ask.

When she saw him there at the party, though, her first instinct was to hide or go inside. She was stuck handing out food, though, and it wouldn't make sense to hide. So she kept talking with the people and watched him in the corner of her eyes, talking to a few people.

After a few minutes, Lizzie went inside to wash her hands and there, she ran into her brother, Matt, and his youngest child, Davis, who was three years old. "Hey, Lizzie."

"Oh, hey," she said, and she smiled at Davis, "What's up?"

"Well," Matt started and he looked at his son, "it appears that WE had a little accident and we're just now cleaning up."

"I'm a big boy!" Davis exclaimed, in his high, childlike voice as he raised his arms.

"Not today you aren't," Matt said, and then he looked at Lizzie, "If Jenny hadn't insisted on packing another set of clothes, I'm not sure what we would have done."

Lizzie laughed, "Yeah, well, where is Jenny? I was just outside and I didn't see her."

"She's probably still upstairs with one of our other monsters. Jack started pulling Kate's hair earlier and, well, let's just say that as the eldest sibling, Kate did what she had to do."

Lizzie laughed out loud, "Yeah, well, I always told you Kate was going to be one smart cookie. She has two younger brothers. It's good that she's learning so early."

Matt rolled his eyes, but smiled, "Yeah, well, just to clarify, I'm sorry for all the misery I ever put you through. Now I know how mom and dad must have felt when we were younger."

Lizzie raised her eyebrows, "Yeah, well wait until they get a little older. That's when the real fun begins."

Matt shook his head, "If they are anything like you and I were, I can't wait."

"I don't know how I ever handled two boys practically all by myself."

Matt smiled and looked at his sister with sympathy, "They really are great, Liz. You have every right to be proud of yourself."

"Daddy!" Davis exclaimed restlessly, "I want to go outside! I want to play with Andrew and Jake."

"You do?" Matt asked his son, "What are they playing?"

Davis shrugged, "I want to be with the big kids."

Lizzie and Matt exchanged a look, both of them knowing that the big kids probably wouldn't like this, "I'll play with you," Lizzie finally offered.

Davis got excited, "Really?"

"Lizzie, you don't have to do that," Matt said, "I'll take him outside."

"No, it's okay," Lizzie said, smiling at Davis, "I hardly ever see these guys and I want them to remember their Aunt Lizzie."

Matt shrugged, "Okay, well, I guess I'll be upstairs, then. I'll be outside in a few minutes."

"Okay," Lizzie said and then she turned her attention to her nephew, "So, what would you like to play?" she asked, tugging a piece of hair behind her ear, "or do you want to go outside and see what's going on out there?"

Davis nodded, "Outside!"

Lizzie led Davis outside and Davis started toward the sandbox. Her parents had put it there when grandchildren came to visit. Lizzie sat on the edge of the sandbox and watched as Davis played with a plastic dump truck and chattered about random things. Ten minutes later, when someone announced that they were about to serve cake, Davis jumped up excitedly and headed for the cake. Lizzie went after him, but couldn't stop him before she heard an "Uff!" and saw that Davis had bumped into someone's leg. When she saw who the leg belonged to, she wanted to hide.

None other than David Gordon was standing there. He looked down to see what hit him and then looked up and their eyes connected. After standing there for a few seconds, Lizzie finally said, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Honey, are you all right?"

Lizzie was about to reach down and pick up her nephew, but Gordo beat her to it. Gordo picked Davis McGuire up, inspected him for scratches, and then looked at his face for a few seconds. Lizzie wondered what he was thinking about. She was about to take Davis away from Gordo when Gordo said, still holding Davis, "He looks okay to me," he said and then he looked at Lizzie, who looked nervous, "Where is Matt, anyway?"

Lizzie weakly smiled, "He's inside dealing with Jack and Kate."

"Ahh," Gordo said, nodding his head, "You know, I always wondered how he ended up naming his daughter 'Kate.'"

"Well," Lizzie sighed, "Her full name is 'Kate Elizabeth,' and she was named after her two aunts."

Gordo looked down at the child that he was still holding who just observed the adults, "This is Davis, right?"

Lizzie squinted, "How did you know?"

Gordo shrugged, "I see them every once in a while."

"They don't even live here, though."

"They moved away two years ago," he said, and then he put Davis down. Davis stayed where he was, near Gordo.

There was an awkward pause…surely one of many to come if they kept this up. Lizzie suddenly looked at Davis, "Honey, did you say you wanted some cake?"

Davis nodded excitedly.

"Let's go then!" Lizzie said, but Davis didn't move. Lizzie saw this and asked, "Don't you want cake?"

Davis looked at Gordo and then at Lizzie and then back at Gordo, "I want to stay here."

"You can't stay there, Davis. If you want cake, you have to come with me. We have to congratulate Grandma and Granddaddy."

Just then, Gordo cleared his throat; "I can stay with him if he wants."

Lizzie knew that's why Davis wasn't moving, but she wasn't sure how she felt about leaving Davis with Gordo. It just felt weird. Lizzie finally decided to give up, "Okay, I'll bring you and…Uncle Gordo a piece of cake and I'll be right back."

Lizzie left to get some cake. Five minutes later, she found Gordo and Davis hanging out near the porch, seemingly in an engrossing conversation, "Okay," she said, and she handed them each a slice and then she turned to Gordo, "I'm sure that you would rather hang out with some people your own age," Lizzie said and then she sat down beside Davis.

"Actually, Lizzie," Gordo started, and Lizzie turned to listen, "I don't mind Davis at all. He's actually the most interesting person I've talked to all day. He was just telling me how he wants to be a cowboy when he grows up."

Lizzie glared at Gordo. She was sort of sick of putting up this friendly front with her and apparently, he wasn't just doing this to be nice to her. She then looked at Davis, "A cowboy, huh?"

Davis nodded, "Uh-huh," he said, "cowboys are cool!"

Lizzie looked at Gordo again, hoping that he would get the message that she didn't really want to deal with him right now, but he didn't move, "I think that would be really cool."

After another fifteen minutes or so of sitting there, Davis talked about how he was going to preschool next week and some of his friends, and all this other stuff. Matt came outside and announced that it was time for them to leave, Lizzie got up to say goodbye to Matt's family, and Gordo stayed where he was and didn't even try to act like he was intruding. This drove Lizzie out of her mind.

Instead of saying something about it, though, Lizzie mumbled something about finding her son and disappeared. The party was dying out and people were leaving. Gordo didn't move at all. A few people walked over and spoke to him, but he showed no sign of leaving the party.

After Lizzie checked on her sons to make sure they were okay, Lizzie hid inside the house for a few minutes. When she came back outside, Gordo was up and it looked like he was finally leaving. He didn't even bother to say goodbye to Lizzie personally when he left. After everyone had left and everyone was cleaning up, Jake told Lizzie that he was going to run over to the Digital Bean and then drop Hailey off.

When Lizzie was finally alone, she thought about the events of the day. Gordo was definitely sending her mixed signals and this irked Lizzie, even though Lizzie couldn't figure out why she was so upset about the fact that he hadn't even bothered to say goodbye.

By bedtime, Lizzie had concluded that if she and Gordo ever had a confrontation after this, she would…she would…well, she hadn't decided what she would do. Today with Davis hadn't been completely uncomfortable, but why did he choose her?


End file.
